


Just a Little

by Corcalamus



Category: Avengers, Ironman, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Romance, Romantic Comedy, complicated family dynamics, mentions of historical attempted rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-19
Updated: 2013-09-19
Packaged: 2017-12-27 01:53:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/972931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corcalamus/pseuds/Corcalamus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark is a man who knows how to get whatever he wants, but when he decides what he wants is the God of Mischief in his bed, he finds he's got a bigger challenge on his hands than he expected. A story of fun, flirtation and love in unexpected places.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The New Consultant

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you as always to my wife for a wonderful Beta job (she's my shining grammar knight on a punctuation steed). Thanks to Nim for reading over the first part for me and doing some lovely art of two of my favourite scenes which you can find here - http://nimohtar.deviantart.com/gallery/45908842
> 
> Written for the Frostion Big/Mini Bang 2013

Chapter 1 The New Consultant

When Fury had promised to bring in a magic user to help the Avengers deal with Dr. Doom, the Avengers had first assumed it would be Dr. Strange. The group at large then dismissed that idea as Natasha was quick to point out that Strange was in the Amazon doing some research. The next candidate had been the Scarlet Witch, but Clint reminded them what had happened the last time she was in the same room as Tony Stark and they all agreed that it was highly unlikely she would desire to help them if it brought her to the same city as him.

They pondered a few other options, but none immediately jumped out.

When Fury appeared with his new 'Consultant', Tony wished he'd brought the Scarlet Witch.

“You have got to be kidding.” Tony found it very hard to remain passive when _this_ was what he was facing. And really, when did he ever _do_ passive?

“When does he ever kid?” Bruce asked.

“True,” Tony was forced to concede.

“I have been assured that he will help us. I have also assured him that if he steps a toe out of line we'll fire his ass back to Asgard,” Fury said, studying the tall man beside him.

“And that is a rather depressing thought,” said the God of Mischief. “Asgard is frightfully dull these days.”

It wasn't a smooth meeting: Clint made threats, Loki rolled his eyes, Natasha remained quiet but stared at him, and then since it was Tony's tower he had veto power on where the God of Mischief stayed.

“Aw fuck it, he can stay. Just don't touch anything or anyone you shouldn't and we're fine.” Tony decided that it would be better to have Loki there where they could keep an eye on him. And so, Loki moved into Avengers HQ at Stark Tower.

He surprised them all with his work ethic. 

Loki worked tirelessly to undo the magic Doom was using against them. He created potions to heal Natasha when she'd been poisoned, created rituals to protect the tower and fought as hard as any of them in the final battle, coming back injured but generally cheerful (as cheerful as he ever was).

When all was over with and done, they had expected him to head back to Asgard, but a week later he was still there and showed no signs of packing up to go.

It didn't bother anyone, though, because he was rarely seen. If not for JARVIS assuring Tony that Loki was indeed living there, he would have thought the Asgardian back off home or off causing trouble somewhere other than Earth. That was the other thing that surprised them all to learn: they learned that Loki was a generally quiet and courteous house guest.

Loki rarely ventured out of his room, rarely spoke to anyone. He magically sealed his door to stop anyone snooping during the day when he might not be there, or when he was presumably sleeping or meditating, or whatever else it was that mages did.

“He likes his privacy,” Clint told Tony. “Learned a bit about him when I was under his mojo. He says he keeps his room sealed to stop Thor barging in and bothering him first thing in the morning, but I think there's more to it than that. He could get twitchy when people touched him sometimes.”

Tony found himself wandering past Loki's door on more than one occasion. He'd sort of grown to like the Asgardian during their battles. On more than one occasion during the fights they'd worked together to take down some Doombots. Loki's magic was incredibly handy and when coupled with his suit they were near indestructible.

He'd also had the opportunity to watch (JARVIS said 'ogle' and Tony told him not to say that word ever again) Loki while he worked. He had an intense gaze while filling vials of potion and looking over ancient texts - it was a look he recognised in himself - and found that since it had been so quiet, he missed having Loki around even though he was _technically_ still in residence.

It was twelve days, four hours and seventeen minutes after the battle with Doom before Tony even _saw_ Loki.

Tony had been in his lab working on a new bot, when he realised it was going on midnight and he hadn't eaten dinner yet. He made his way out to the main room of the Avengers' Suite when he paused at his door, observing the kitchen where he could see Loki.

The God of Mischief never ate with the Avengers. Tony could only assume he was eating; food went missing from the fridge on occasion, sometimes leftovers magically disappeared, so he assumed Loki was just eating whatever was easiest. Never had he imagined the Prince of Asgard to be _cooking_. It was the sort of thing he thought Loki would turn his nose up at.

He watched as Loki moved around the kitchen with ease, looking quite relaxed in his own company. He had what looked like some sort of pasta thing cooking and Tony could definitely smell bacon. Carbonara maybe? Where had he learned to make carbonara?

He had meant to keep walking, but he found himself enraptured by how truly relaxed Loki looked. He'd never seen him truly at ease and as Loki dipped his finger into the sauce to test it, licking the morsel from his finger, Tony had the sudden very strong urge to walk over to him and lick the digit clean himself.

Sexual frustration was very inconvenient at times.

He watched as Loki seemed satisfied with the sauce and he began to set the table. Tony frowned as he realised Loki was setting the table for two and he startled just a little as Loki asked, “Are you going to join me Stark or just continue to ogle me?”

“I-Uh-” Tony cleared his throat, “I think I'll join you.” Tony walked towards the kitchen table. This caused the god to grin.

“I see you do not deny that you were ogling me.”

Loki served the meal as Tony sat down. “I was ogling you a bit, hard not to with an ass like that in leather trousers.” Tony allowed himself a small grin as this seemed to throw Loki off his stride. Loki gave him a strange look and gave a short snort of laughter.

“You really have no shame, do you Stark?”

“Hey, it's only shameful if I ogle someone ugly. You might be crazy and sure, you threw me out of a window that one time, but you're still hot.”

Loki finished serving the pasta and garlic bread, and sat across from Tony. “I was under the impression that you found your pleasure with women,” he said.

“No. Men, women, trans – I'm what you'd call 'Pansexual'. But I really don't like labels. I am what I am.”

Loki blinked at that and shook his head. “Such an odd species.”

“You do men then?” Tony asked as Loki was mid-sip of his glass of water. He grinned innocently as the Asgardian almost choked; this was fun.

“You are _vulgar_ ,” Loki said, coughing a bit.

“Hey, you set the tone of this conversation with your talk of ogling.” 

Loki rolled his eyes, “I am inclined to lay with men and women.” Loki shook his head and began to eat. “I do not know why you are so interested.”

At that, Tony smiled and timed his next retort perfectly to make Loki choke again.

“Just so I know how much effort I need to put in to get you in my bed.”

After Loki's choking fit he threw a piece of garlic bread at the inventor. “Even were I so inclined to lay with you, Stark, it would be ill advised.”

“Oh?” Tony asked.

“I expect any other liaisons you have had would be mind numbingly dull by comparison. I fear the bone meltingly good release I could, and _would_ , give you would shatter your fragile little mind.”

Tony grinned, a smile he knew was somewhat broken and he finished his meal. He got up, walked to Loki and set his hand under Loki's chin, tilting the god’s face up to meet his gaze.

“You can't break what's already broken, Loki.”

Loki stared at him and it seemed to suddenly dawn on him that maybe Tony wasn't kidding. Before Tony could react or comprehend what had happened, he was pushed hard against the back wall of the kitchen, his hands over his head as Loki's fingers wrapped around his wrists, keeping his hands firmly pinned to the wall.

He could smell Loki now, crisp, clean and cool. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as Loki leaned down, kissing along his jaw before speaking into his ear.

“You have made a very tempting offer Stark but I am afraid I am going to have to decline a full sample of your attentions... but a taste you may have.”

Loki's lips met his and Tony closed his eyes. The God of Mischief had a wicked tongue which danced over his own, exploring and tasting every morsel of his mouth as his teeth nipped Tony's bottom lip.

Tony tried to free his hands from Loki's grasp but the sorcerer just tightened his grip. Loki pulled back and grinned. “Such a pity that you are mortal,” he said and with no other word or warning he just disappeared from the room.

“Cocktease!” Tony shouted out at the room in general and he was sure he could hear laughter coming from the direction of Loki's room.

~*~*~*~*~

A few days passed and Tony's mind was left lingering on the God of Mischief and Teasing (for that's what he was) and just what it was he got up to while in his sealed and locked room. He tried several times to gain access to the room, and on the third day he was shot across the room by a magical barrier.

As he got up and dusted off what little dignity he had, the door opened; Loki stood against it and raised an eyebrow at Tony. “You could have knocked you know.”

“You never let anyone in!” Tony said, aware that his voice was more indignant that it might have been due to being thrown across the hall into the far wall.

“Not true. You may ask the good Captain. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm rather tired. I've been working hard and need to sleep.”

The door was closed in Tony's face and so, Tony went off to do as Loki suggested. He was going to go talk to 'the Good Captain.'

~*~*~*~*~

The one thing Steve was known for above all else was his honestly. This meant in covert undercover operations he was really totally not the guy you wanted to send. His boyish, all American charm was good for public speaking though which was why Fury sent him out to do interviews and do talks at schools and all that other PR stuff promoting the Avengers.

His honest streak also meant that he was a naturally terrible liar, which Tony often used to his advantage.

“Loki? Nope, don't ever see that guy... no idea what he's up to or where he goes. Never seen inside of his room in fact.”

The tone, the uncomfortable posture of a guy lying through his teeth who didn't normally even fib, was almost endearing.

“He already told me he talks to you a bit. When exactly is that?”

Steve sighed and, knowing Tony's stubbornness, he answered, “Well, I don't need as much sleep as I used to before the serum so I usually hit the gym in the morning. So does he.”

“Wait... you and Loki go to he same gym?” Tony asked.

“Yes... he asked if there was somewhere he could let off steam. I suggested the gym.”

“Let off steam?” Tony could think of a better way Loki could let off some steam.

“We spar,” Steve said by way of explanation.

“You both sound sexually frustrated to me,” Tony said with a slight smirk.

“Tony!” Steve said, completely indignant. He _hated_ Tony's blasé attitude towards sex, especially when he just dropped it into conversation in the middle of lunch.

“Not everything comes down to sex, you know. I'm not sexually frustrated.”

“Says the guy who hasn't had sex for seventy years,” Tony said with a grin.

Steve would hear no more on the matter and when Tony tried to insinuate that he'd seen Loki's bedroom for anything other than the innocent reason of 'I went by to see if he wanted to go down for a late night sparring match', Steve walked away from him with an irritable sigh, leaving Tony with the bill.

Tony smiled. The conversation hadn't helped him too much, but it had been a hell of a lot of fun teasing Steve.

~*~*~*~*~

After everyone had gone to bed, Tony came back down from the penthouse and sat on the couch. About 11:40pm, Loki's door unlocked and he walked out into the room with a tablet in hand. Tony took a moment to appreciate the view of the sorcerer in a black T shirt and skinny jeans before he wondered just when and where he'd gotten them.

“Where the hell did you get skinny jeans?” he asked as Loki walked by, giving him a very nice view of his ass.

As Loki moved into the kitchen, he spoke without breaking his stride. “Firstly, please do not take the name of my firstborn in vain; second – Midgard has these wonderful things called 'shops'.”

Tony took a moment to let the words process and as he thought, Loki began to cook.

“Your firstborn... you have kids? Like, more than one?”

“Yes,” Loki said. “Hel who lives in Helheim, her own personal little domain. Fenris lives with his wolf pack on an island in Alfheim, Jormungand lives on Niffleheim keeping the Waters of Life safe from harm, and I do not speak of Vali and Nari.”

Tony was tempted to ask about the last two but instead he asked of the first three of the children mentioned. “Hel, Fenris and Jormungand I've heard about. Goddess of the Dead, a wolf and a snake, right?” Tony wasn't sure how he felt about Loki being the father of a wolf and a snake.

“Hel was cursed as a child by an age old enemy of mine. Mistress Death claimed her as a champion. Fenris is a... what you would call a werewolf, he was banished many moons ago and he shuns 'civilized' life. Jormungand is another shape shifter like myself, although he prefers the form of a sea serpent due to his line of work.”

Loki never moved his eyes from his cooking and smiled. “Not such a good prospect for your bed after-all, am I, with such 'baggage' as this?”

“Are any of your children under 18 or the Earth equivalent?”

Loki quirked an eyebrow, “No.”

“Then I'd still like to take you to my bed,” Tony said with a grin.

“I cannot,” Loki said with just a bit of a sigh. “It is forbidden.”

“What?” Tony asked, “Sleeping with men?”

“Sleeping with mortals.”

“Why?” Tony asked, aware that there was a bit of a whine in his tone.

“It is complex,” Loki shrugged. “Do you want something to eat while I am here?”

“No, I ate already,” Tony said and continued on with his train of thought, unwilling to let the topic drop. “Explain the whole 'no mortal/godly sexy times' thing when I know your brother and Jane _totally_ have sex.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Thor is not a mage.”

Tony frowned, “You can't sleep with me because you're a mage?”

“Yes,” Loki said and as Tony opened his mouth to ask why Loki held his hand up. “Look, Stark, I'm not inclined to discuss this. If you continue on this vein of conversation I will go out to find something to eat.”

Tony sighed, “Fine...” He walked over to the drinks cabinet in the kitchen and poured himself a drink. “Can we talk about other stuff, or do I need to be silent if I want the privilege of your company?”

Loki smiled a bit. “If I find the topic interesting, by all means talk.”

Tony grinned at that.

~*~*~*~

They stayed up together until almost 6am. Tony decided to talk about movies and then - after a discussion on Tony's favourites - they put on the original Star Wars trilogy, because Tony thought it was a genuine tragedy that Loki hadn't seen them yet.

“See? Could be worse: your daddy could have been Darth Vader.”

“Not far off it,” Loki said. “Both Vader and Laufey were the scourge of their galaxies. But I admit perhaps Vader would have proven more problematic to kill.”

Tony laughed at that, even though he knew the god was deadly serious.

After Loki retired for the morning, Tony decided he'd be better off giving up on his plan of sleeping with him, seeing as the god seemed determined to tell him that it was 'forbidden'.

And with that sensible idea firmly in mind, he went off to bed.

~*~*~*~

Unfortunately, Tony's subconscious seemed to have a vendetta against the sensible idea he'd had just before going to bed. In fact, fuck that, it had declared war against the idea of not sleeping with Loki.

All Tony could dream of was Loki. He dreamed first of the kiss they shared and that moved on into the bedroom. He dreamed of Loki's gorgeous long legs wrapped around his waist as he made the god come undone beneath him.

He woke up with a wet patch on himself. He hadn't had a wet dream in decades, not since he was a teenager.

He supposed it could be attributed to sexual frustration on his part too. Since he'd broken up with Pepper he had only slept with one person, and that had been dull to say the least. He didn't like that they didn't know his buttons like Pepper had. It had all been very disappointing, especially realising he maybe wanted another relationship and not an empty fuck.

Who knew Tony Stark would ever want to settle down?

He decided, however, that in lieu of that, a good long hard fuck with Loki would be good too.

So, instead of backing off like the sensible idea the night before had told him to, he decided to follow his subconscious and his cock and step up his game in seducing the God of Mischief.

~*~*~*~

A few days passed where no one saw Loki at all and Tony knocked on his door every day (several times a day in fact) to see if he would answer as he'd indicated he might.

“Sir,” came JARVIS' voice, “Loki is not ignoring you. He is not currently in the tower.”

Tony frowned. “Since when?”

“Since 08:45am Tuesday, sir. Director Fury called him into the office and he has not been back since.”

“Loki has a phone?”

“Yes sir, an iPhone 5.” JARVIS' tone was one of disdain as he told Tony what phone Loki was using and Tony's visible twitch was not missed by Bruce as he walked by.

“Something wrong?” Bruce asked looking at Tony standing outside Loki's door.

“Yes, that bastard brought Apple tech into my house.”

Bruce tried not to smile. “I'll warn him to keep it away from you. Clint still won't forgive you for what you did to his iPod.”

“He learned his lesson though, didn't he?”

Bruce laughed and continued on to his lab.

“JARVIS, do you have Loki's number?”

“Yes.”

“Dial it and patch it through to my lab.”

“Yes, sir.”

Tony walked back to his lab, where he was working on fixing Butterfingers. The phone rang a few times and then the God of Mischief himself answered it.

“Where did you get my phone number?”

“JARVIS,” Tony said. “Where are you?”

“Working,” Loki 'helpfully' supplied.

“On what?”

A smile was plainly heard in the god's voice as he replied, “That information is classified. Look, I do not have time to play, I-”

“I wanted to talk, you know, and make an appointment since you seem to busy.”

The god paused. “My duties here should be over by tomorrow morning. Shall I stop by your lab?”

“Sounds good, just don't touch anything when you come by.”

“I won't,” Loki assured him. “The last time I went into your lab, one of your bots assaulted me.”

“Dum-E attacked you? Good for him, didn't know he had it in him. Must be because you brought an iPhone into my tower. He hates those.”

Loki sighed. “I will see you tomorrow. I really must go.” And without another word, Loki hung up the phone.

“Rude... Dum-E, feel free to smack him tomorrow. Or smash that stupid phone.”

~*~*~*~*~

It was early afternoon by the time Loki turned up the next day, as he walked in he stood glaring at Dum-E who snapped his claw at him. “Tell _it_ to keep its fingers off my person or I am leaving right now.”

Tony smiled from where he was working on Butterfingers, “He's just protective of me, he knows you threw daddy out of a window and he doesn't much like it. He also knows you have an iPhone. Why would you buy an Apple product?”

“I did not, Fury supplied it.”

“Fury?” Tony glared. Fury knew exactly how Tony felt about iPhones being around his person. “That bastard...”

“I was not going to complain, it saved me having to purchase a mobile-phone with my own money.”

“Your own money?” Tony asked as Loki skirted around the room, keeping well out of the way of Dum-E, seemingly very suspicious of the bot. 

“Yes. I have a bank account, papers and a salary as a consultant for Fury.” Dum-E started towards Loki and Loki pulled one of his throwing daggers from thin air. “I swear on the Norn stones I will destroy that thing if it touches me.”

Tony grinned. “First of all, don't talk about my first born like that, he's sensitive, and second, are you seriously freaked out by my bot?”

“I will melt it down if it comes near me Stark.”

Tony whistled. “Hey, Dum-E, go sweep the floor over there, go on.”

For a bot, Dum-E did a good job of looking disappointed that he didn't get to keep snapping at Loki. Tony frowned; it wasn't like Dum-E to be _so_ aggressive towards strangers. “He really doesn't like you. What did you do to him?”

“I did nothing,” Loki said, tone just a bit defensive.

“It was not what he did, but what he said, sir,” JARVIS supplied, “He called U and Butterfingers 'pieces of junk'. Dum-E did not appreciate the slur on their characters.”

“They are just machines,” Loki said, watching Dum-E with some unease. “Nuts and bolts... no more...”

“Complicated electrical signals are what make up the human consciousness,” JARVIS informed him. “Just because he is a more simple version of that does not mean he is 'just a machine.' He is aware of his surroundings, just as I am.”

Tony smiled. “Well said buddy.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You have a very strange hobby, creating machines,” Loki said watching Dum-E now with his broom. “Though I will say the ones you create are more interesting than most. I just do not like seeing something with such a spark of consciousness that has been created by mortal hands. It is very strange.”

“I'm a genius, what can I say,” Tony said, closing the panel on Butterfingers that he was going over. “I've always had this intuition when it comes to machines.”

“I understand that feeling,” Loki said. “I was always good with magic, even before my powers truly took hold I was very good.” Loki looked thoughtful and sat on a stool. “So what did you wish to talk to me about?”

“Nothing in particular, I just wanted your company,” Tony said genuinely. “Nobody is around today, and I know you like to keep to yourself usually, but you seemed to like talking the other night, so just thought I'd offer the opportunity.”

Loki looked thoughtful at that. “What would you wish to talk about?”

“You for one thing,” Tony said, looking up at the God of Mischief. “You're a whole lot saner than I remember from the whole 'defenestration incident'.”

Loki nodded. “I am... Well, if it is a discussion about me you wish, I wish to discuss you.”

“Then I suggest we each ask a question in turn,” Tony told him, “and since it's my house, I'll go first.”

Loki smiled a bit, “And if we do not wish to answer a question?”

“We'll ask another?”

“For how long?” Loki asked, pulling his stool closer, watching now as Tony opened another panel on Butterfingers.

“Until we get bored?”

“Alright,” Loki agreed. “As you say, you begin.”

Tony nodded and began working on Butterfingers again as he considered which question to ask the god first. He decided that this was more a 'getting to know you' thing rather than a serious discussion, as Loki was unlikely to answer anything too serious, so he went for something non-threatening.

“Okay, start with something easy. Give me a list of three of your hobbies.”

Loki seemed momentarily surprised by the question before responding, “You mean things I do purely for enjoyment?”

“Yeah,” Tony said.

“You know, I do not think anyone has ever asked me that before. It is a curious question.”

“Not really, this is all about me getting to know you a bit more than the whole goth-rock thing you got going on. It's a pretty simple question.”

“I suppose... I see no harm in answering. Well, I enjoy reading, I read a lot of things. It is one of the things I find I enjoy about Midgard, there is a lot of varied reading material.”

“What do you read?” With the further question the rules for the discussion were already broken if Loki answered, and Tony was surprised when Loki did.

“I enjoy crime novels and some fantasy. I find the mortal take on magic to be interesting and I also like science fiction. I hate horror and find many of the 'romance' novels boring and predictable.”

Tony grinned. “I had you down as a sci-fi fan after your reaction to Star Wars. You seemed to enjoy that.”

“I did,” Loki smiled, it looked good on him.

“So that's one hobby. Next?”

Loki looked thoughtful. “Well, technically my magic is a part of my job, but I still use it as a hobby. I experiment on new compounds and techniques in my spare time.”

“That's two,” Tony smiled. “And the third?”

Loki gave him a wistful smile. “My favourite thing to do in my spare time that I simply cannot do here.”

“What's that?”

“Spend time with Amfasta.”

“Who is Amfasta?”

“My mare,” Loki said fondly. “I take her out riding with Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three. They go to hunt, while I go simply to be out riding. I have an affinity with horses.”

Tony grinned wickedly. “I've _heard_.”

The snowball that hit him in the face was justly deserved but it didn't stop him laughing.

“Sleipnir is not my son, you fool.” The tone was irritated but Tony could see the god resisting the urge to smile. “Sleipnir is the son of my mare, the result of an experiment. I gave him to father as a gift; he was quite pleased with his eight legged horse.”

Once Tony stopped laughing, Loki spoke. “I have answered two questions for you, therefore you owe me two answers.”

“I suppose. Hit me,” Tony said, wondering what the god would be curious about.

“Why did you and Pepper break-up?”

It was now Tony's turn to be caught off-guard by a question. No one had dared to ask him outright what had happened between him and Pepper. All anyone knew was that three months after Pepper had been kidnapped and given Extremis, they broke-up and Tony moved to the opposite end of the country. They were still friendly, but no one knew any details.

He knew if anyone else had asked he'd tell them it was none of their business, but somehow Loki asking didn't bother him. He was trying to get Loki into bed after all, and Loki had a right to know why his last relationship went sour. Maybe telling Loki would make him more trustworthy in the god’s eyes?

“It's complicated,” Tony tried to explain, “There were a few reasons. You know what happened with Extremis?” At Loki's nod, Tony continued, “Well she is this super strong, kick-ass girl now and I liked it at first... but it changed our relationship. She started worrying more about me, 'You're just a man without the suit' and then she started trying to convince me to take Extremis. Tried to guilt me into it, and I just...” he shrugged. “We split before it got bitter. While we still had feelings for each other, we both knew it wasn't gonna work. I love her still, but it can't work. I'm just glad we were able to stay friends.”

Loki looked thoughtful at that and went ahead with his second question, “Stark, if you loved her, why _didn't_ you take Extremis?”

Tony smiled faintly. “I'm human, I'm not interested in being a super soldier like Cap or almost indestructible like Pep. I'm just a man in a can. I only worked on Extremis to help fix Pepper. I didn't want to take it, especially when I'm not sure it'd work with everyone. Also, it definitely has an effect on personality. Pepper is more aggressive than she used to be, a bit quicker to anger, and being with me wasn't good for that.”

“I can understand those reasons,” Loki conceded after a few moments contemplation. “It is... unfortunate when things sour due to circumstances beyond your control.”

“You had something similar happen?” Tony asked.

“Not similar, but my fiancée and I parted ways due to problems between two of our boys.”

“The two you don't talk about?”

“Yes,” Loki said, “Nari and Vali. I have not seen Nari for many years... over a century in fact. I will never see him or speak to him again, he is dead to me.”

Tony wasn't sure if he should ask, but since the god was talking he thought he'd chance it. “What did he do?”

“He murdered his brother Vali over some girl. Sigyn asked me to speak at his trial to ask Odin to keep him on Asgard, but instead I spoke at his trial to ask Odin to banish him. That his temper was too volatile and he had to leave. Sigyn hasn't spoken to me since. She lives with him on Vanaheim and her husband.”

“That sucks.”

Loki smiled a bit. “That it does. But at least you and Pepper were able to remain friends.”

“Yeah... So my turn for a question?” 

“Yes.”

“Okay, well, do you like Japanese food?”

Loki quirked an eyebrow. “I – Yes, I do. But I still do not understand how chopsticks work.”

Tony grinned, “Well I have another related question; have you had lunch?”

“No.”

“Then I'm taking you out.”

“I'm not sure that is a wise course of action,” Loki hedged, “I do not get recognised on my own, but if I was out with you it's much more likely. Agent Coulson advised against my going outside in the city with any of the Avengers.”

“Well... hmm,” Tony said, “Okay, up to my penthouse then, as long as you can promise to resist the temptation of throwing me out the window again. I can order in and we can eat there.”

Loki laughed. “I think I can just about manage that.”

“Good, come on then.”

~*~*~*~*~

Lunch was more than satisfactory, both with the food and the company kept. Tony had called his favourite sushi place, and it wasn't the first time that they'd done a delivery to the tower on short notice for him. He taught Loki how to properly use chopsticks while he put on an episode of Star Trek DS9 (his second favourite Star Trek show) and Loki was very impressed with the special effects and make-up in the show.

While they were talking, Loki let slip that he was free that coming weekend.

“Well in that case, I'm taking you out on Saturday. I'm not taking 'no' for an answer, Loki. We'll go incognito and we'll leave the city, how about that?”

“Why are you so insistent on this foolish idea of taking me out?” Loki asked him. “You don't even like me.”

“That's not true,” Tony retorted. “If I didn't like you, I wouldn't be spending any time with you at all. You just don't get out enough, and I'm using you as 'Pepper Rebound Dating', okay?”

Loki looked at him suspiciously. “I have already-”

“Do I look like I'm interested in a long drawn out love affair? Loki, it's just a little bit of fun. _Relax_.”

Loki just rolled his eyes.

Tony knew he'd won.


	2. A Pair of Dates

Chapter 2 – A Pair of Dates

Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous day. Which was perfect because it meant Tony could drive his car with the top down. He loved doing that, especially on his way out of the city, when tall skyscrapers gave way to quaint little houses to reveal a brilliantly blue sky dotted with a few fluffy white clouds.

Tony had told Loki to dress casually, and the Asgardian had opted for jeans and a T-shirt, which in Tony's opinion fit the god just perfect to show off his long gorgeous legs and tight little ass. The God of Mischief also had very well toned arms and Tony thought it was a shame that he kept them covered up in suits and armour most of the time. Maybe he should buy Loki some more T-shirts?

He'd been driving for about an hour, talking about this and that as Loki watched the countryside whiz past them. Loki hadn't asked yet where they were going, but as they got out of the city and towards the countryside his curiosity grew. “Where are we going?”

“It's a surprise,” Tony teased.

“Any clues?” Loki asked as the highway they drove on went from being surrounded by buildings to proper country and open spaces.

“I promise you'll enjoy it,” Tony said and grinned as he noticed Loki roll his eyes.

They turned off the main road and as the car drove down towards a large building with paddocks around, Loki's somewhat lounging demeanour shifted. He sat up, his eyes widening as he spied horses being led around an arena. The god began to grin, a look of complete glee in his eyes.

“You brought me somewhere to go horseback riding?”

Tony smiled, finding the somewhat childish glee permeating the words as Loki stared out at the horses absolutely endearing. “Yeah, figured we could go riding and I'll take you to a nice seafood place I know for dinner. It's all out of the way, less likely to be recognised outside of the city, especially with me sans arc reactor these days and no suit with me. And out with a gorgeous guy rather than a gorgeous girl, throws people off the scent.”

“I could kiss you,” Loki said.

“I wouldn't stop you, that was one hell of a kiss the other wee- ow!”

Loki hit him across the arm and got out of the car as Tony laughed.

A woman by the name of Catherine Riley showed them around, though not before taking Tony into her office to have him sign the waiver on that allowed them to go out unchaperoned, as well as agreements on insurance for the horses themselves.

As they walked out into the stable to show off the horses, she asked Tony if he'd ever ridden before. His reply, 'Yeah, totally, I ride all the time' didn't seem to convince her and she informed him that he'd be riding 'Pudding'.

'Pudding' looked exactly as his name implied. He was brown, round and looked like all he ate was probably pudding.

Loki was asked the same question and his reply of ‘Yes, I ride quite often, but I had to leave my mare at home as it would be too far for her to travel from London. Transatlantic travel is no good for such a fine animal’ earned him an altogether different horse, one of the stables’ newer mounts, a huge Palomino they'd recently acquired by the name of 'Thor'. They told him he was a race horse but hadn't been very good, because he was easily distracted, headstrong and boisterous. From the look on Loki's face, Tony assumed he thought the horse very aptly named as well.

Loki walked with his horse and got on him with practised ease. He watched as Tony walked around to the right of his horse and was about to get on.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting on Pudding,” Tony said, “Why?”

“You get on a horse from the /left/, Stark," Loki said.

Tony tried to get Pudding to stand still, but Pudding kept moving aside, giving him a very strange look as he tried to get on the horse.

“What, are all horses left handed or something?”

Loki laughed and got down from Thor, walking over to Pudding. “Pudding, would you stand still for my foolish friend here?” Pudding stopped moving and Loki looked to Tony. “Get on his left, I will help you on him.”

As Loki helped Tony up onto Pudding, he couldn't help his laughter. 

“You have never ridden a horse in your life, have you?” The god’s tone was one of great amusement.

“I have, once,” Tony said defensively as he got himself settled in the saddle.

“When?” Loki asked, rearranging Tony's hands on the reins.

“Uh... when I was twelve. And it wasn't so much a horse as it was a donkey and I didn't so much ride it as I got led around a past- stop laughing!”

Loki was almost doubled over with laughter by Thor's side. When he calmed himself down he patted Pudding on the shoulder. “Pudding, I think it would be best if you ignore the human in the saddle and do as I ask. Just follow me and Thor.” Loki got up into his saddle again. “Let us be off.”

“That's not going to wo-whoa!” Tony held tight as Pudding began to follow Thor and Loki. Loki turned his head and addressed the horse again, “You may walk beside us Pudding.”

Pudding stepped up beside Loki and Thor, keeping pace with them as they walked.

“Okay, that's... a little freaky,” Tony said.

“There is a reason the rumours began about me and Sleipnir,” Loki said patting Thor's shoulder, “I have an affinity with horses as I already told you.”

“Yeah... it's just weird.”

“It's not so weird; most mages have an animal they can communicate with. For me, it's horses.” Loki pulled the map from his pocket that Catherine had given him. “Catherine said the forest is beautiful and there is a stream within that the horses could drink from while we explore. I like climbing trees sometimes.” Loki smiled.

“Sounds good,” Tony said and as Loki turned with Thor he was very glad that Pudding just followed along.

The scenery was beautiful, the forest alive with sound, colour and the scent of earth and grass. As gorgeous as the sights of the forest around them were, Tony thought idly that it was the company that made the ride worthwhile.

When he was on his own, Loki was pleasant company. He was relaxed and at ease on his horse, and talked easily with Tony as they rode about nothing in particular, except to say that Clint had introduced him to Stargate which he found very interesting.

“The wormholes created in the show look quite similar to the real thing.”

It was easy to forget as they rode that this was 'Loki of Asgard', the guy who killed - or was responsible for the deaths of - over 200 people.

“So... enjoying Earth then? You know, glad that you didn't take it over or blow it up?” Tony asked as conversationally as he could.

Loki smiled. “Yes, humans forget a face easily. I blend in here, I get stared at sometimes but I don't think it's because they know who I am. I also find I'm enjoying the work I was sent here to do.”

“That's good, you know. You're different to the guy who threw me out of a window.”

“Yes...” Loki said, keeping his eyes trained in the distance. “Tell me, the wormhole that I opened and you travelled through, does it plague your dreams?”

Tony tensed, “Yes. At times.”

“And you were within and saw the horrors beyond for all of what? Five minutes?”

“Something like that,” Tony said, suddenly not liking the way the conversation had turned. “Listen, forget I said anything, I-”

“I fell through a similar anomaly when the Bifrost was shattered.” Tony chanced a glance at Loki, saw his frame was tense, his eyes haunted. “Where you were lost for but five minutes, I fell for what felt like years.” He looked to Tony, “Time is a strange thing when you have nothing but your own terror and hate to mark its passing.”

Tony frowned, “Well... no wonder you looked like shit and went a bit nuts.”

“Quite,” Loki said with the smallest of smiles, “I was not myself through that whole debacle. My plans usually have much more finesse, and then I was reckless and things were hazy sometimes, but I feel much better now.”

They both went quiet, each lost in their own thoughts while they travelled through the forest. They arrived at the stream and with Loki's help, Tony got off Pudding and they tied their horses to a tree so that they could drink.

“The dreams will fade,” Loki said finally, and Tony thought the conversation was over but he paused, Loki's face was quite near his own. “They will fade as will your fear of the dark.”

“How did you-?”

“The fear has faded for me,” Loki explained. “It still comes back, it still sometimes takes me by surprise, but I find each time it leaves me it stays away for longer. I have found company helps, good company... your company has helped.”

“You could enjoy it a whole lot more,” Tony said stepping further forward into Loki's space.

“I have already told you-”

Tony didn't let him protest anymore, he just pulled him down by the shirt into a kiss. The god resisted for a moment but then relented, resting his hands on Tony's hips, responding to the kiss.

They broke apart and Loki told him, “it is forbidden.” The protest was half hearted at best.

“You never mentioned first base being forbidden,” Tony said, kissing down Loki's throat.

“First base?” Loki inquired, and he almost managed to sound normal except for the small gasp as Tony kissed at his neck.

“Making out, kissing, wandering hands over clothes above the belt or on the ass.”

“Oh... I still think it unwi- _Ohh_...” Loki abruptly stopped his protest, his eyes fluttered closed as Tony bit him gently at a particularly sensitive spot at the base of the god’s throat along his collarbone.

Loki's hands moved to Tony's waist and again Tony found himself pinned, though this time against a tree and not the kitchen wall.

“Like pinning me, do you?” Tony asked him, grinning up at the god.

“It is the easiest way to stop your wandering hands,” the sorcerer replied.

“If you told me to stop – and meant it – I would,” Tony said, a challenge in his tone.

“Hm...” Loki pondered, “Maybe the problem is that I do not want you to stop?”

Tony smiled. “That's not a problem from where I'm standing.”

Loki leaned down to speak into Tony's ear. “I said once before that you are very tempting... another taste I think.”

The god’s lips were upon his own, his hands moved from Tony's wrists above his head to settle on his hips. Tony groaned, hands trying to slip under Loki's shirt when the god gripped his hands. “First base or not at all,” he said.

“Spoil all my fun...” Tony grumbled and moaned as Loki bit him hard on the shoulder. “Fuck.”

They stood against the tree, kissing, hands wandering over chests and running through hair, until Loki pulled back, his lips and cheeks deliciously red from arousal. “We should stop.” The tone didn't sound like someone who wanted to stop.

“Why?” Tony asked.

“If we do not stop, the ride back will be very uncomfortable.”

Trust Loki to think of the practical reason. Tony sighed, “True...”

They parted properly, each moving away from the other to get some space, catch their breath, and at least in Tony's case, will his arousal away.

“I think my theory about you is right,” Tony told him after about ten minutes, as Loki helped him once more up onto Pudding's back.

“And what theory would this be?” Loki asked as he got back on Thor.

“That you're incredibly sexually frustrated. I mean... you're _really_ high strung. You look kind of gorgeous when you're desperate.”

“I-” Loki's cheeks flushed just a hint and he glared as the flush made Tony grin, “I could tell you no and deny it, but you clearly know the truth from your wandering hands. The last person I lay with was an elf by the name of Kelwen. Gorgeous man... two days I spent in his bed, but that was over three years ago.”

“ _Three years!?_ ” Tony exclaimed. “Fuck... I can't last three months without going a bit stir crazy.”

“A bit?” Loki asked, “You're pursuing me because you haven't had sex in three months, I'd say that's more than a bit stir crazy. Almost suicidal some would say.”

Tony laughed. “Maybe. I don't think I can go a whole lot longer.”

“You learn to cope after a while.”

“I could help you with-Whoa!”

Loki had obviously had enough of Tony because as he and Thor cleared the forest he kicked him into a gallop.

Naturally, Pudding followed.

~*~*~*~*~

After Tony got his pride back in order at the stable, he took Loki to dinner as promised at the seafood place he'd mentioned. A kid at the next table over recognised him and asked him to sign his limited edition Iron Man collectable cards.

“Who's your friend?” The kid asked, looking at Loki.

Tony panicked for a moment, as no one had asked him who Loki was while they were out until now, and he'd never bothered to look at what name Loki had signed to the insurance forms at the stable. “This? Oh, this is-”

“My name is Haytham,” Loki supplied. “I work with Tony from time to time.”

The kid seemed to accept this answer and walked back to his parents with a grin at having had his hero sign his cards. After watching him leave, Tony turned to Loki with a raised eyebrow.

“Haytham?” Tony asked, “What kind of name is 'Haytham'?”

“An Arabic name as far as I know; it means 'young eagle' or 'lion'.”

“That's not what I meant and you know it,” Tony said.

“I didn't choose it, it's my cover name. Clint and Phil picked it out, see?” He picked out his wallet and put his driver’s license in front of Tony. It read 'Haytham Jones'.

“It's a dumb name,” Tony said, “I mean really... _Haytham_?”

“Something to do with 'Assassins Creed',” Loki told him. “Natasha found them both to be ridiculous, but she didn't contradict them. You know how they can be once they think they have a good idea. And it's not like I use the name often, I use my other cover when I work with SHIELD mostly.”

“Which is?”

Loki grinned, a grin that Tony had come to know meant 'wouldn't you like to know?'

“That, Mr Stark, would be telling. Now, shall we get some dessert and be off?”

Tony sighed. He knew exactly what he wanted for dessert, but Loki was unfortunately not on the menu. 

~*~*~*~

“I thought 'Haytham' was a good name for him. You know, sounds posh, English and a bit out there. Kind of like him. If you played Assassins’ Creed you'd know it suited him,” Clint said, while trying to prevent his hotdog escaping its roll.

“Look, I could sink hours into wasting time on video games, but I already have enough distractions around me.”

“Well don't blame me, Phil came up with it.” 

“So... moving on,” Tony said, “What is he doing for SHIELD?”

“Who?” Clint asked.

“Loki,” Tony said, losing his patience.

“Loki doesn't work for SHIELD.”

Tony glared as he gave in to Clint's childish game. “Okay, what does _Haytham_ do for you then?”

Clint grinned at him. “He's a consultant.”

“Screw you.”

“You wish,” Clint retorted. “Thanks for the hotdog, man, I'll see you later.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Tony said, watching Clint leave with all the answers he was seeking. Tony sighed. There was nothing for it, he was going to have to hack into SHIELD's database, _again_.

Fury was getting really tired of that.

Whatever.

~*~*~*~*~

JARVIS searched through SHIELD's database for anything that could pertain to Loki, but the only entry that matched at all was of the 'consultant, Haytham Jones'. JARVIS checked all the employee records time and again, but found nothing else, and the description for Haytham was 'Magical Consultant'. Which ultimately just meant, 'Loki's doing whatever we need him to do'.

It was somewhat frustrating.

The Tuesday after their horseback riding, something unusual happened. At about 5:30 in the evening, Loki's door unlocked and the god came out of his room dressed in black jeans and a tunic style top. He looked freshly showered and without a word, he sat at the dining room table as Steve served lasagne, as if he always shared a meal with them.

Strangely, no one commented on it. Steve served him a plate as if he was used to doing so, Natasha amicably passed the garlic bread to him and Tony was surprised by how glad he was to have Loki at the table.

After dinner, it was Tony's turn to help tidy (they had a rota and everything) and without prompting, Loki stood to help him.

“So, what brings the prince out of his room?” Tony asked as he started to wash plates.

“A desire for company,” he admitted. “I work with people all day but I am merely a colleague, a resource to be exploited, which I am well aware of... This group of people, you seem more willing to treat me differently. It's almost like having friends.”

Tony looked at him with a frown. The way Loki talked, it sounded like him when he was younger, too brilliant for his peers and too young for his elders. “It's...'like' having friends? You talk like you haven't ever had any friends.”

“I haven't,” Loki said, though it was without self pity, just a statement of fact. “I am a Prince, I was odd, I preferred study over fighting and sparring. My friends were never mine, usually they were Thor's friends that I tagged along with.”

“You never had your own friends? _Never_?”

Loki looked thoughtful, “Amora was the only one from Asgard, but she was banished. Then there was Sigyn, who was my friend and lover before our argument. Fandral and I were once good friends, but he was slowly poisoned towards me by Sif. Draste was probably my only true friend, but he died a number of years ago. He was a dark elf, handsome, funny, I miss him at times.”

“What happened?”

“I'm not sure,” Loki said, “a dragon I expect, he was a dragon hunter. He went off hunting one day and just never returned. He was declared dead a month after his disappearance.”

Tony wasn't really sure what to say about that. Loki shrugged as he began to dry dishes, “It doesn't much matter... but I came out of my room for another reason as well.”

“Oh?” Tony asked.

“To invite you out on Saturday. You don't have any pressing engagements I trust?”

Tony grinned, “Now I do.”

“Shut up,” Loki said, though he smiled. “Just... be ready about 11:00.”

“In the evening?”

“In the morning... and dress for the beach.”

Tony looked at him suspiciously and Loki just smiled. “Trust me.”

Tony wasn't really sure how far he should trust the God of _Mischief_ , but he decided he'd give Loki the benefit of the doubt.

Just this once.

~*~*~*~*~

Tony was ready for 11:00 on Saturday. He had a bag with a tablet in it, sandals, shades, shorts, T-Shirt, the whole thing. He stood at the window of his penthouse apartment looking out at the dull overcast grey skies currently calling New York their home.

He was convinced that Loki was playing some sort of joke on him. He heard the elevator doors open and he turned and grinned as Loki walked into the apartment wearing dark linen trousers, a blue tunic style top and a pair of shades.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked, as he moved towards Tony.

“Where are we going?” Tony countered, looking out at the dark skies. “It's not like there's gonna be sun, sea and sand on the coast with weather like this. I've checked the forecast.”

Loki smiled, standing with him, and he took Tony's hand. “Pick up your bag,” Loki instructed. Tony looked at him suspiciously but he picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

“We're going to be gone all day. Do you need to do anything before we go?” Loki asked him.

“No... but, hey, JARVIS, would you let everyone know I'm out of town today? Just in case anyone asks.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Excellent, now, close your eyes.”

Tony looked at him suspiciously. “Close my eyes?”

“Yes. It's a simple request.”

“You're not going to do anything funny, are you?”

Loki grinned. “Just a little bit of magic, now close your eyes.”

Tony huffed but closed his eyes. After a moment he felt Loki's hand tighten around his own and a sort of warm sensation drifted over him. He felt like he was flying for a few moments and as suddenly as the sensation had started it ended. Along with it came a cool breeze, warm sun on his skin and sand at his feet.

“Open your eyes,” Loki told him.

As Tony opened his eyes he was met with brilliant blue skies and white beaches. They were on an island in the middle of a lagoon.

“Where are we?”

“Oeno island,” Loki said with a smile as he walked from Tony. Tony watched Loki walk towards a camp ground set up for them with a campfire and small generator, “It's part of the Pitcairn Island group in the Pacific Ocean. It looked quite beautiful when I found it online. I thought we could go swimming in the lagoon, I brought snorkelling equipment with me, and there is a cooler with food. We can watch the sunset, something I have not done in many years, certainly never on Midgard.”

“What? Swimming?”

“No, watching the sun set,” Loki said and turned to look at Tony. “I used to sit on the beach with Amora and we'd watch the sun go down. It would have been romantic if she wasn't so obsessed with Thor.”

“Thor?” Tony asked.

“Yes, she was somewhat obsessed with my brother. Thankfully she seems to be over that now,” Loki sighed. “So, how is this for our second outing?” he asked as he reached the cooler and pulled out two bottles of beer. He threw one to Tony.

As Tony caught it he grinned, looking around. “As second dates go it's pretty epic. I'd never have see this place otherwise.”

“No, you wouldn't. The inhabitants of nearby Henderson island only visit here in January for two weeks. And I have heard you spend much of January hungover.”

“Who told you that?”

“The internet,” Loki said dryly, giving Tony a look and then a smile. “I brought wine, beer and scotch.”

“You know the way to my heart. You got ice?”

“I don't need to bring ice. I am a mage, I can make my own,” Loki informed him somewhat haughtily.

Tony laughed, “Well then,” he raised his bottle to Loki, “cheers.”

~*~*~*~

The first part of the morning after their beers they went snorkelling. Tony observed that Loki could hold his breath for a particularly long time before surfacing and he thought that the god looked pretty delectable soaking wet.

After they finished swimming, Loki set up the campfire and started cooking hotdogs. As they sat together on the beach, Tony was struck by how almost normal this scene would be if he and Loki had gone to the beach in Miami instead of an abandoned pacific island.

The abandoned island was better, more privacy for one thing.

“So how is this second date so far?” Loki asked him.

Tony grinned, “So you're relenting and dating me then?”

“Seems easier,” Loki said. “It's just a bit of fun.”

“Exactly,” Tony said as he finished the hotdog. “So this 'forbidden' thing... does it ban _everything_?”

Loki looked at him, the god clearly trying to gauge exactly what Tony was getting at. It didn't take him long, “No... it does not ban _everything_.” 

“Give me the ground rules.”

“For now ground rules are 'second base',” Loki said with a small smile, “With some 'heavy petting'.”

Tony grinned as Loki finished eating, “Really?” He slid closer to the god, running his hand over his exposed chest, “Second base is usually clothed fully.”

“Well, we're at the beach. In case you had not noticed, I find you attractive and have decided that we can just have a bit of fun. Help you get over Pep-” Loki's words were cut off as Tony kissed him full on the lips.

Instead of fighting him, Loki's hand went to the back of his neck and pulled him down as he lay back. Tony took the invitation, followed him down, kissing him as he went.

If anyone had happened upon the scene, Tony knew that they probably looked like a pair of love-sick teenagers. It felt good, hands running over chests, Loki's tongue mapping out the scar left by the arc reactor before latching onto a nipple.

Everything remained above the waist for the first half hour, before Loki broke the ban, slipping his hand inside Tony's shorts.

“Fuck,” Tony hissed, his own hand mimicking Loki's, and the god bit back a groan as Tony found his length and began to stroke. Loki moved, turning them so Tony was on his back as they stroked each other, and Tony felt no shame in how long he lasted because he pushed Loki over the edge first. 

He watched Loki's face with rapture as he came, like it was one of the best orgasms he'd ever had. His hand paused as he came but then he went right back to stroking after but a moment and Tony fell off the edge not long after that.

After that it was more swimming while they used the lagoon to get themselves clean. “Well that was a productive day,” Tony declared as he floated on his back.

Loki laughed beside him. “You are a stubborn fool.” 

“You just noticed?”

For dinner, Loki had caught fish earlier in the day and they ate on the beach as the sun went down. 

As far as second dates go, Tony had to admit that it really was pretty epic. 

He was going to have to put a lot of thought into outdoing this one.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Amora.”

Nick Fury looked around the room at the assembled Avengers. He looked pissed, like that one time Loki waltzed in and screwed up the world just for his own amusement, so naturally that could only mean terrible things were happening.

“She's Asgardian, right?” Tony asked, he recalled Loki having mentioning the name before.

“That's right, and we have our Asgardian Consultant in to discuss her with us.”

That was when Loki entered the room. Loki was dressed impeccably in what looked like an Armani suit, with a Macbook Air under his arm. For a moment he looked just like any businessman in the world, that was until his eyes fell upon Thor.

That was when the air went somewhat frosty.

He set up his Macbook and on the screen behind him a presentation sprung to life. He set a video playing and sat down, all eyes went to the screen.

It was video footage of this woman somewhere on Earth. She was blond, and Tony thought she looked quite gorgeous, but then he noticed she had some sort of strange glowing object in her hand that looked suspiciously like the Tesseract.

“Is that-”

“No, it's a copy,” Loki said. “At first glance it looks like the real thing, but it is not. The power does not move in the same fashion; it's a bomb, not a door.”

“A bomb... what does she want to bomb?” Clint asked.

“Everything,” Loki said dramatically, “though she first plans to destroy the Avengers. You are her first target in hopes that your deaths will bring Thor to New York, then she will be able to spin a tale that this is all my doing while he has been busy with his mortal in New Mexico.”

Tony frowned, he and Loki had talked a bit about Amora. As far as he knew, Amora had given up her lust of Thor and was living a generally normal life. Tony kept his peace, deciding he'd talk to Loki after.

They watched the video as Amora met with a tall black haired woman. The footage was a bit grainy, especially as she was in the shadows while she spoke with Amora.

“Who's that?” Tony asked.

“One of our Agents that's skilled with a bit of magic. She made contact with Amora with Loki's assistance. We know what her plans are.”

“When will we be engaging her, brother?” Thor asked.

Loki ignored him, so Fury fielded the question. “In a week. Everyone is on high alert, everyone remains in Stark Tower until she's dealt with. I don't like her.”

Loki then went on to explain Amora's strengths and weaknesses (good with illusion, terrible with elemental magic, terrifyingly brilliant at making copies of magical artefacts) and what her usual attack style was.

As he finished, Tony watched as Thor got up and walked over to Loki. Loki would not even look at him and as Thor reached out to touch his shoulder, Loki recoiled. “What do you want?” Loki asked him, his tone hostile enough to make the God of Thunder recoil. 

“We need to talk,” Thor said.

“I have nothing to say to you. All that I wish to say has already been said.” Loki turned his gaze upon his brother as the others filtered out of the room, “If you wish me to scorn you further, then by all means, remain in my presence.”

Thor seemed torn as he watched Loki pack away his Macbook and other things he had out for the meeting. Tony decided to save Loki from the increasingly awkward moment.

“Hey Loki, you ready to go?” Tony asked, stepping up next to them.

Loki looked at Tony and then Thor, and after a moment's hesitation he nodded, “Yes, I'm ready.” He looked to Thor, “I have to go, Tony and I have dinner reservations.”

“Oh,” Thor said, giving Tony a very odd look. “I... will see you later.”

“Yes,” Loki said and they walked out together.

Tony made sure they were out of earshot before he looked at Loki curiously and said, “So... Amora.”

“Yes?”

“What are you up to?” Tony asked.

“Nothing that will cause trouble if you do as I say,” Loki said, “and nothing that will affect you, again, if you do as I say.”

Tony smiled a bit, “Are you asking me to trust you, Loki?”

“Yes... Thank you for rescuing me from Thor, but as much as I would like to go to dinner with you, I have other things to attend to. I will see you later.”

Without another word, Loki disappeared. 

Tony wondered vaguely if Loki and Thor would ever see eye to eye again. He saw the way Thor watched his brother through the whole meeting. He was desperate to make amends with Loki, that was obvious to anyone, but Loki was having none of it.

As Tony made his way home, he thought he might talk to Thor about it, but then he thought that Loki would be pretty pissed if he tried. Maybe if he talked to Loki first? Or got them both in the same room and got them on the same topic of conversation?

It was going to require a delicate hand.

Best he left them to it really.

~*~*~*~*~*~

As it turned out, there wasn't much to leave the estranged brothers to. The moment Thor moved into Avengers Tower, Loki took to hiding in his room once more.

Tony was pissed, he found he missed having Loki around. Loki had joined him on more than one occasion in his lab while he worked and they continued their game of 'getting to know you', but with Thor around, Loki wouldn't open the door to his room, wouldn't even answer with Tony calling through it.

What also got Tony was Thor's attempts to talk to his brother. He seemed frustrated and when he heard from Steve that Loki had actually been out of his room for about two weeks eating with them, Thor went to the door and threatened to hit it with Mjolinr to get Loki to come out.

That was until JARVIS told Thor that Loki was not currently in residence.

Three days passed before Thor gave up on trying to get Loki's attention and instead he put on his jovial front and sparred with Steve in the gym downstairs and worked out with Clint. After Thor had gone to bed on the evening of the third day, Tony decided he'd officially had enough of Loki's hiding and so he went to Loki's room and knocked on the door.

“Hey. Your brother has gone to bed, you can come out now.”

He didn't hold out much hope for Loki responding, but he grinned when he heard a soft click and the door opened about half an inch. He was surprised, but took the invitation for what it was as he walked into Loki’s room, closing the door behind him.

“I was not hiding,” Loki said, already on the defensive, arms crossed over his chest, glaring just a little at Tony.

“I didn’t say you were,” Tony said holding his hands up defensively.

“Good.” Loki uncrossed his arms. “I just… he is irksome and he is not my brother, no matter how much he says otherwise.”

Tony decided he wasn’t going to touch the whole ‘not my brother’ thing, especially as Loki's tone was completely challenging. Instead he focused on the room he now found himself in. It was very different to the room that had been there before. Loki seemed to have moved a lot of his own things into the room to make it feel more like home.

Loki had a large bookcase full of ancient tomes and he had a double four poster bed made of a wood that Tony was unfamiliar with. His eyes glanced over these objects before resting upon the desk which held an open book and the Macbook. The juxtaposition of the laptop and the magic tome made Tony laugh a bit.

“What?” Loki asked him.

“Sorry, it’s just, I feel like I’ve been transported into a mage's tower. Hey – It’s like Hogwarts… with a Macbook.”

Loki rolled his eyes, “Hardly.”

“Hey, no seriously,” Tony said, spotting a snake motif carved into the desk. “You even have snakes… and you like green. It’s kind of like Slytherin. Though I'm really not sure it's wise to have a Macbook in here, I hear Voldemort cursed them.”

A small curve of the god's mouth told Tony he knew exactly what he meant. “You are a fool.”

“But I make your life interesting.”

Loki sat down on the edge of his bed, Tony followed him. He stood in front of Loki, his hands resting on Loki's shoulders. “I've missed having you around...” Tony admitted. “It's been nice having you involve yourself with us, watch movies, eat with us... you're becoming part of the team.”

Loki sighed. “I am uncomfortable with Thor being around.” He frowned after a moment. “Wait, did you just say I'm becoming part of the team?”

“I did,” Tony said with a grin as he watched the frown appear on Loki's face. “And you shouldn't let Thor push you out of being comfortable in this tower,” Tony added. “I want you around and it's my fucking tower, what I say goes.”

“Not while he is here I'm afraid,” Loki said, looking up at Tony. “He continually is trying to talk to me, to be my 'brother'... I don't want that. I do not want to deal with him.”

Tony looked thoughtful and then smiled, “Well... you busy tomorrow? I can skip out on paperwork easily enough.”

Loki smiled a bit. “I have research to do but... I can take a break.”

“Right, I'm taking you somewhere nice and out for lunch. Meet me downstairs in the foyer at noon.” Tony leaned down to kiss him and he kissed back.

It was a different kiss to their usual fare. Usually it was all hands and grabbing but this time Tony kissed him like he just had the God given right to do so if he wished. As they parted Loki smiled.

“I shall look forward to it, Tony.”

It was the first time Loki had used Tony’s given name and as Tony left Loki in his room feeling quite pleased, he paused in the hall. Thor was watching him with an unreadable look in his eye.

“He let you into his chamber,” Thor said.

Tony crossed his arms. “He did,” he said, “we're friends.”

“Indeed...” Thor said. “What are your intentions?”

“To be his friend,” Tony reiterated. “He's a big boy, he can take care of himself Thor, you don't need to approve his friends.”

“No, but I must be aware that you and he are becoming close.”

“Close? Thor, he let me into his room so we could talk in private without you snooping about. Leave him alone, you're suffocating him.”

Thor sighed. “I left him alone before and he fell from the Bifrost... What would you have me do? I am trying to be a better brother.”

“He doesn't want you as a brother, at least not right now. You need to just back the fuck off and leave him alone.”

For a moment, Thor looked angry but then his eyes went past Tony to Loki's closed door and he sighed. “If you think it best.”

“I do,” Tony said, frankly surprised that Thor was listening to him. He stepped forward and patted Thor's arm before he walked passed him to head to bed, looking forward to tomorrow out with Loki.


	3. God of the Ice

Chapter 3 - God of the Ice

It had taken Tony a while to think of somewhere to take Loki after he'd been whisked away to a tropical untouched paradise in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Now he had a lot of tech and could do some really cool shit with it but instantaneously teleporting halfway around the world was not one of those things.

Instead he looked closer to home, and the look on the face of the god as they walked inside their destination made Tony certain that he'd made the right choice.

“By the nine...” Loki whispered softly.

Tony felt a sort of warm happy feeling as he watched Loki's eyes travel around the building. The Main Branch of the New York Public Library system had been a place he himself had found somewhat breathtaking as a child, and even now its beauty and sheer size didn't fail to impress him or even the god he'd brought with him. 

It had been a number of years since he'd visited the library and watching Loki as he stared at the thousands upon thousands of books made him somewhat giddy. They were quiet as they walked around, touring the library. Tony always thought that libraries had to be a little magical because the moment you set foot in one your instinct was to be quiet.

“It's stunning in here,” Loki said as they stood in the Rose Main Reading Room. “It reminds me of the halls of the Elves,” he added softly. “Especially the city of Esanor... It's gorgeous Tony, thank you for bringing me here.”

They spent about three hours in the library. Tony got Loki signed up for a membership and he borrowed a couple of books, looking more than just a little pleased with himself. Then Tony took him to lunch at a quiet little bistro and after they went for a walk in Central Park, where Loki decided that ice cream was a grand idea.

They were out together until just before dinner and as they arrived at the tower, Loki didn't disappear back to his room. Instead he went into the kitchen where Clint was making fajitas with Natasha and asked if they needed help.

As they all sat together at the table, Loki ensured that he sat as far away from Thor as possible, which just so happened to be right next to Tony. Tony couldn't help but be surprised that Thor kept his word and didn't bother Loki through most of the meal, except to simply inquire how his day had been.

“Wonderful,” was all Loki replied with, and Tony couldn't help the grin that spread across his face.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Amora didn't play around when she finally decided to act. An explosion in midtown Manhattan alerted the Avengers, along with ten creatures about eight feet tall, bathed in fire and brimstone.

'Fire Giants,' Loki told them over his headset. 'Do not engage, I repeat, do not engage. I have something that will help.'

Tony flew around Madison Square Garden where the Fire Giants were wreaking havoc. Amora was nowhere to be seen and the Avengers didn't listen to Loki's shouts not to engage. Tony supposed he should have, and as the metal on his suit began to melt he had a passing thought that he was a fucking idiot.

Something cold surrounded him and he looked up to see Loki standing right in front of him. He had a blue box held in his hands, blasting out waves of freezing cold energy, which was working to subdue the Fire Giants. He frowned as he noticed Loki's hands and face had turned blue, and his eyes had gone a fiery red.

“You will get away from him!” Loki shouted. “Thor, get Stark out of here! Hawkeye, fire some of those explosive rounds at the frozen giants. Do it now!”

Thor flew down and grabbed Tony while Loki continued to blast the Fire Giants. As Thor flew out with Tony in his arms, he watched Loki build a shield around himself and Hawkeye's arrows all hit home one after the other.

Tony knew he had some burns and blisters from the heat, he was hurt but not too badly, and as he landed in Stark Tower he wondered just how he was going to get his suit off. He was pretty sure that the heat from the Fire Giants had melted all the seams closed.

“JARVIS... how are we going to get this off?” he asked.

“Might I suggest a laser cutter sir?”

“Not funny,” Tony said silently cursing himself for making JARVIS so sassy.

“Tony, my brother warned you not to engage the Fire Giants, he-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know big guy,” Tony said. “I can't do anything about it now, I was just trying to stop them killing civilians. It worked, they stopped.”

“But they almost killed _you_ ,” came Loki's voice across the comm.

“I'm fine Loki.”

“They almost melted your suit.”

“Then clearly my next one needs to have a higher melting point.”

“You are a fool,” came Loki's exasperated voice. “I have some business to attend to before I come find you and kick you. Until then have fun trying to get free of what was almost your metal coffin.” 

The line went dead.

Loki was pissed. 

Tony was surprised to find he actually felt bad about that.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It took six hours to get the suit pried off him, and it was done in a way that the suit was completely ruined. Steve, Thor, laser cutters and a crowbar had all been involved, and now Tony was burned, blistered _and_ bruised. He lay in his bed - a sorry state even after Bruce had tended his injuries - and watched television, having nothing better to do.

“Sir, Miss Potts is on the line.”

Tony sighed. “Put her through.”

“Tony...” Pepper said as the screen came to life, showing her worried frown as she noticed his bandages. “Phil called, said you had another near death experience.”

“I'm not taking Extremis,” Tony said right away, recognising both the look and the tone.

“ _Tony_...” Pepper said. “You were in your suit and you still almost got killed. I don't understand why you won't just look at it as an option.”

“Pepper, this is one of the reasons we broke up. Please don't make it the reason that we can't be friends anymore.” He slowly sat up, picking up the painkillers by his bed and swallowing them with water, “I'm fine.”

“You're not.”

“He will be,” Loki said from the door.

“Is that– is that _Loki_?” she asked.

“Yeah, he and I are buddies now. Isn't that right, Loki?”

“Yes,” Loki agreed, walking in and closing the door. “Miss Potts, Tony will call you back, I have some things to talk to him about and some healing to administer. The good Dr Banner has done an admirable job in the meantime, but I can do more.” Pepper sighed and Loki went on, “And this fascination with you and Extremis is most unhealthy.”

“If he'd taken Extremis he wouldn't be in this mess,” Pepper said.

“Or he'd be worse because he'd be hardier, so he'd have been even more reckless,” Loki countered. “He knows his limits... though sometimes he misjudges a situation, _even when told to stand down._ ” Loki gave Tony an extremely dirty look, “Next time I tell you not to engage ten Fire Giants, you will heed my warning.”

“Yes sir...” Tony said with a grin. “Do I get a sponge bath?”

“ _Please_ ,” Loki said with a roll of his eyes, “not while the video feed is still active.” Loki looked to the screen, “Good day Miss Potts.”

Pepper was giving them a strange look as Tony waved his goodbye and the feed ended. Loki leaned down and kissed Tony softly on the lips and then pulled back giving, him a smack across the face with his open palm.

“Ow!”

“When I say 'do not engage', Stark, I mean it. If it had been Frost Giants I would have been happy to watch you attack. I know your suit can stand up well to cold, but I did not know how it would deal with such heat. As I see by your injuries, I was right to be worried. I am not an old mother hen, I am Asgardian, I thrive on battle and I respect those that can also fight. I only tell you to back down when I know that engaging the enemy is certain death, do I make myself clear?”

“Yes... I'm sorry, I just-”

“You're used to the likes of _her_ -” Loki motioned to the screen Pepper had occupied, “-being worried about every little thing. I do not do that, I know you can handle yourself. I have fought both alongside you and against you, I know you know your limits. This was an unknown to you, and as such you should have deferred to me. Next time Tony, I will not come by your bedside to tend to your wounds, I will let you suffer and hope then you will learn your lesson.”

Tony winced, but Loki's fingers began running along the burns and immediately the pain began to melt away. Tony closed his eyes, mentally following Loki's hands on his skin, massaging as they went, cooling relief seeping into the burns which eased off.

“You might be the death of me, Tony Stark,” Loki said softly as Tony drifted off to sleep. 

~*~*~*~*~*~

When next he woke, it was morning and he felt much better. He was tired and a little achy, but otherwise felt fine. He got up, used the en suite, had a shower, and when he came back out he found Thor in his room.

“He healed all of your wounds,” Thor said, his tone and look somewhat hostile.

“He did,” Tony agreed, moving to his closet. “He said I was an idiot for not listening to him and next time he'll let me suffer my injuries. I told him there won't be a next time, I'll listen to him in the future.” He picked out jeans and a shirt, if he had to go to the office today he was going casual, he didn't care.

“Be wary of my brother,” Thor said. “I do not know what he is doing with you, but it cannot end well. He is forbidden from being with a mortal.”

“I'm his friend.”

“The only people I have ever seen him heal so readily are his bed partners and his children,” Thor said. “Even myself he hated healing, unless it was a grievous wound.”

“Well he's not exactly your biggest fan big guy. And hey, you've been following my advice about talking to him, and he seems to be getting a bit more comfortable around you. Trust me, we're cool.”

Thor sighed. “You were right about my 'suffocating' him... He seems much more at ease now that I do not pester him. He actually said 'good morning' to me today.”

“See? Progress... just... let him come to you in his own time.”

“I will heed your words... I am going to go visit Jane for a few hours. I will be back tomorrow.” Thor stood and left the room, closing the door behind him. As he did, Tony frowned and considered Thor's words, ' _He is forbidden from being with a mortal_ '.

It seemed Loki was telling the truth after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Two days passed relatively uneventfully. Thor was away for an evening, which meant Loki was much more relaxed. Loki made breakfast the next day - which consisted of bacon and pancakes - and while Steve's pancakes were better, everyone liked Loki's bacon better, and it was just good to see Loki taking his turn at cooking.

There was no proof that Amora had been behind the attack in Madison Square Garden, but Loki assured everyone that it had her mark all over it. Tony also noticed that Loki had taken to wearing a necklace around his neck, which had a rather fat red stone sitting on the end of it.

When he asked what it was, Loki gave him the answer of 'never you mind' and slipped it beneath his shirt. 

Loki got Tony alone later that day and told him to meet him that night at about midnight - he was going to transport them somewhere - and to dress warm and make sure he was wearing clothes with padding.

Tony wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The air was crisp and clean. They were somewhere north, somewhere really far north if the evergreen trees full of snow were anything to go by. Loki had his hand and led him quietly through the forest. The sky was clear when he glimpsed it through the trees, there seemed to be a hundred million stars out to greet them.

Tony could see his breath in front of his face, and he was glad of Loki's warning to wrap up warm, but he still hadn't explained what it was they were going to be doing.

As they walked he felt something pass over his skin, like a warm breeze, but his hair and clothes were left unmoved by the strange sensation.

“Just as I left it,” Loki said with a smile.

They had exited out into a clearing where a small lake was situated. The area was pristine, it looked absolutely untouched by man.

“This is Loki Lake in Norway,” Loki explained, walking towards the water's edge. “I was here when I was younger, I protected this place from any whom might cause it ill. You can only enter with my assistance.”

Tony smiled. He didn’t want to admit how warm and fuzzy it made him feel that Loki had brought him to such a private place. He watched as Loki let go of his hand and moved to the water's edge.

“So, not that this isn’t gorgeous here, but what…” Tony trailed off as he watched Loki place his hands in the water and ice began to form over the surface of the lake. The speed at which Loki’s magic worked to freeze the lake was simply astounding. Tony walked towards the lake as Loki straightened back up and looked at the god curiously. 

Loki smiled at him and flicked his wrist, two pairs of ice skates appeared. “Shall we?”

“Oh no… horses were one thing, I don’t do blades on the end of my feet.”

Loki rose an eyebrow at him. “But you will fly around in a tin can.”

“Hey!” Tony protested, “it’s not just a ‘tin can’. It’s a ‘tin can at the forefront of modern technology and safety..”

“It’s not as safe as a pair of ice skates when you have me by your side.”

Tony was about to argue, but the words stuck in his throat. How could he argue with that? Begrudgingly he took the pair of skates meant for him and put them on his feet. Loki watched him and smiled, stepping onto the ice. He held both his hands out for Tony to take.

“Come on Tony, I'll keep you safe.”

Tony gripped his hands, gingerly stepping onto the ice. Loki held his hands tightly and moved his legs out and in, skating backwards into the middle of the lake. Tony held his hands tight enough that if Loki were human he'd be leaving bruises.

“You do this a lot?” Tony asked.

“I used to,” Loki replied. “The home of the Dark Elves is full of icy lakes in the north and they have competitions regarding ice dancing. I won a few of those competitions, of course the All Father never knew. It was not a very 'masculine' pursuit for an Asgardian Prince, but I remember my mother watching and smiling.”

“I can imagine you being good, you're very graceful.”

Loki smiled, “Thank you... Now come on, I intend to have you skating on your own by the end of the night.”

Tony doubted it, but he let himself be led around by Loki and slowly, very slowly, he began to find his feet. Tony knew his stubbornness would work to his favour since when he decided to do something he'd do it right or not at all. It took about two hours, but finally Tony was able to skate on his own. Nowhere near as fast or graceful as Loki, but still on his own, and Loki looked incredibly pleased.

“I told you that you would be fine in my company,” Loki said with a self satisfied smile.

“You did,” Tony agreed, skating over to Loki. He slid up behind him, his hands on the god's hips, and Loki grinned.

“Hold on tight.”

Tony dug his fingers in tightly as Loki began to skate faster. It was a bit of a rush, flying across the lake at such high speeds, but Tony felt safe with Loki beside him. After whizzing them around, Tony felt dizzy so he sat down at the edge of the lake.

“Can you show me some tricks?” Tony asked and Loki smiled.

“What sort of tricks?”

“Well you said you won some sort of competition, I assume there were tricks involved?”

Loki grinned and looking a little like a child being asked to show off a party piece. He skated off to the opposite end of the lake. 

Tony wasn't sure what he was expecting, but what Loki showed him wasn't it. He watched as Loki began to skate, but to call it 'skating' was doing it a disservice, it was a dance, a form of art. He was all long legs and graceful lines, skating at a furious speed. Arms and feet moving to silent music as he jumped into the air and spun four times before landing down on one leg and spinning, his other leg held out behind him.

He twisted and turned, as graceful as a ballet dancer, doing spins and somersaults in the air, landing perfectly each time. For about five minutes Loki had him enraptured with his grace, and as he finished Tony applauded.

“God, Loki... it's like you were born to be one with the ice or something.”

It had been the wrong thing to say and the somewhat insulted look on the god's face told him this. _Frost Giant... shit_.

“No! Loki, don't look at me like-”

“You mock me?”

“No, God no, _never_ ,” Tony said, getting up and skating out towards him. “Loki... I didn't mean it like that, it's just I've never seen anyone skate like that, and some humans can skate brilliantly. You're all lean and graceful and absolutely gorgeous...”

Loki smiled faintly, Tony's words dousing the anger that had begun. He looked at Tony curiously, “You mean that don't you?”

“I do... and just for the record, I think you look pretty good with blue skin too.”

Loki gave him a dubious look, but left it at that, before taking his hand once more. “So... enjoyed yourself after all?” he ask. Clearly Loki didn't want to talk about the whole 'blue' skin thing and Tony wasn't going to push it, he was just glad to have salvaged the situation.

“The skating was okay, the company made it worth it,” Tony said. “And knowing how special this place is to you made it worth it.” 

Loki smiled a bit at that. “I trust you in this place. I know you would never harm it... I give you my blessing to be able to return here if you ever wish to.”

“Thank you...” Tony murmured.

“Now come, we should get our shoes back on and head home.”

They skated back over to where their shoes were and changed their footwear. Loki took Tony's hand and teleported them back to Stark Tower, right in the middle of Tony's penthouse. Loki smiled at him.

“I will see you tomorrow,” he said and leaned in, kissing Tony softly before moving off and teleporting himself downstairs.

Tony smiled and headed off to bed.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The necklace around Loki's neck disappeared, but in it's place a small polished piece of metal appeared with runes inscribed into it's surface. Tony asked him what that was, but again received the answer of 'it's none of your business'.

Tony knew that Loki was up to _something_ , but trying to figure out what that something could be was proving to be almost impossible. 

A few days later Loki turned up at the Avengers tower with Amora bound and chained with Black Widow at his side. He was looking pretty pleased with himself, that was, until Thor returned and all hell broke loose.

“What were you doing on Svartalfheim?” he asked Loki the moment he saw him.

“Working,” Loki said.

“You are banned from leaving Midgard without a chaperone,” Thor fumed.

“You were busy,” Loki said. “I needed to speak with a friend, you were with Jane, and time was of the essence.”

Thor was about to argue back when Natasha spoke, “I went with him.”

“I – _You_ went with him?” Thor asked, some of the anger being knocked out of his sails. “I didn't...”

“Just do your duty and take this back to Asgard will you?” Loki motioned to Amora at his feet. “Tell the All Father I have given a copy of the Power Gem to King Frey and not to come hunting me for a gem that will only work thrice.”

Thor frowned, “That is a dangerous game to play with him. You should be telling me your plans. You should-”

“I do not need to tell you anything. Natasha knows my plans, Fury knows my plans. Your _duty_ is to take her back to the All Father. _Know your place_ , Thor,” Loki spat and the words seemed to strike something in Thor, something painful as he physically recoiled from Loki.

“Loki...”

But Loki was gone and Natasha shook her head. “You don't get him... You won't ever get him, don't try.”

“And you do? How can you possibly hope to comprehend a being so old, how can you-”

“He and I are cut from the same cloth, Thor. I might be younger, but I get him. Just... leave him be.” 

Thor fumed, but he grabbed Amora, throwing her over his shoulder before he stalked out of the room to take her back to Asgard. Natasha sighed, “Now... where did Loki go? He needs to be debriefed.”

“He's probably in his room, I'll go see if I can convince him to come out.”

Tony walked to Loki's door and before he could knock the door opened. Tony smiled a bit and walked in.

“Coulson wants to debrief you,” Tony said.

“Coulson can debrief Natasha. She gives a better account of missions than I do anyway...” Loki said. He once more had the fat red stone in his hand. “Thor is an idiot...”

“He doesn't trust you,” Tony said, walking forward.

“No, he does not,” Loki agreed. “And yet he wishes to be brotherly and affectionate with me, when he clearly expects me to stab him in the back, and you know, part of me wants to.”

Tony sat with Loki on the bed and rubbed his back. “Why don't you just tell him what happened?”

“Because I can't. Technically I broke some laws with what I did, but I needed the locator spell from King Frey. He's very good with them... I gave him what he thinks is the Infinity Gem of Power, I got Amora, deal done. He won't ever know it was me who gave him a fake, I had a friend do the actual swap.” He flopped back, laying splayed out on the bed. “He drives mad.”

Tony lay back with him, moving to shove Loki onto his front. “Hey!”

“Relax Reindeer Games.”

Tony's hand moved to the back of Loki's neck and began to rub the tension from it. Loki relaxed, turning his head to the side, “That feels good.” he said.

“It's supposed to,” Tony replied.

Loki closed his eyes and sighed softly. “What am I doing with you..?”

“Passing time,” Tony said, “having fun... Don't over analyse it, just relax.”

Loki smiled faintly and he didn't protest as Tony's hands moved from his neck to ruck up his shirt and rub his lower back. He rubbed in small circles, tension easing from Loki's muscles beneath his touch. For about five minutes he silently worked before Loki turned, his hands moving to grip Tony's wrists.

“As nice as that feels, it is a bad idea.”

“Why?”

“Because it feels like it's leading somewhere I cannot let you go.”

Tony huffed and shook his head. “That whole 'forbidden to be with mortals' thing, huh?”

“Yes,” Loki said and sat up. “We should stop this before-”

“Stop? Why?”

“It is-”

“-Forbidden, yeah I know, you've mentioned. Humour me, why is it forbidden?”

Loki sighed at him and sat up. “What does the 'why' matter?”

“It matters.”

Loki stood, banishing the red stone off somewhere as he walked over to his desk. “My magic I was born with, an unfortunate stroke of bad luck on my part. Or because of my Frost Giant heritage, I am not entirely sure, but I have it and so it makes things difficult if I wish to take someone to my bed. If my bed partner already has magic, there is no problem. If they are Asgardian, Vanir, Elf or Dark Elf and I inform them of my condition, there is no problem.”

“Your 'condition'? Loki, you make it sound like you've got some contagious disease.”

“I do,” Loki said, “or I might as well have. Magic on Asgard is seen as a _woman's_ skill. Not the skill of a warrior, certainly not a Prince of Asgard.”

Tony frowned, “So what happens if you _do_ sleep with say, a human?”

“My magic would enter your body and you would gain the power that comes along with it-”

“That doesn't sound too bad.”

“-and the process of magic taking over a mortal's body takes a few days, and half of the time ends in death.”

“Oh... that's... not good.”

“No, it's not,” Loki agreed and turned to look at him. “So you see, I cannot ever be with you.”

Things went quiet between them for a few moments. Tony thought about it, seriously thought about it. He was having fun with Loki, there were no expectations except for a bit of fooling around and he was getting to quite like him, even if he was haughty and arrogant sometimes. 

“Loki, are you having fun?”

Loki looked at him. “I am.”

“Then I say you stop worrying and just enjoy the ride. We're having _fun_. Something I know that Asgardians are allowed to have, because Thor has plenty, and you... well you don't look like you get to have a whole lot of fun. Just enjoy it.”

Loki stared at him and shook his head with a smile, “You are a stubborn man... a very strange and stubborn man. Most mortals would run and hide at hearing sleeping with a god might kill them.”

Tony shrugged. “I figure a lot of stuff has tried to kill me over the years, 50/50 is actually pretty good odds for me.”

Loki laughed.

“That's good, I like that look on you better. Now, you gonna go let Coulson debrief you or make him threaten to tase you like he threatens everyone else?”

Loki stood. “Actually, he only ever threatens you with that one,” he said, “but yes, I'll go see him.” He leaned down and kissed Tony on the cheek. “Thank you... I'll speak with you later.”

They exited his room together, and Loki went off to find Agent Coulson while Tony went back to his lab. He had almost fixed Butterfingers, and once he was up and running it was time to start on U. He knew he had to get working on it tonight because he had a charity ball to attend tomorrow, and if he didn't show up Pepper would call and complain.

Best to just go and get these stupid functions over with.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Charity balls were always dull these days. Gone were the days that he would just show up, get drunk, make a speech and then fall into bed with someone. No, now he was Tony Stark, Iron Man. That in itself usually got a whole load of donations to the Stark Young Minds fund, which he used to put kids through college. Sure he had enough personal wealth that he could likely just do it off his own pocket, but Pepper insisted that this whole shindig rose the company's profile.

She was right of course (as she often was). The company's image always went up with the press after an event like this. Happy was more than glad to be on Head Security detail at the events, not for Tony since he had the suit nearby, but for all the other guests should the shit hit the fan.

He found himself at the bar - scotch on the rocks - and he sat with his back against it, watching people dance. He saw a few agents around, Coulson had insisted on having an incognito presence here, he could always pick them out. A blond guy over by the cocktail sausages, a bald guy with no neck by the windows and another one trying to look at ease talking to the rich and famous. He frowned a bit, Coulson had told him there would be four agents in the room tonight.

Well at least it provided a bit of entertainment looking for the mystery fourth agent. He wondered if it would be another guy, most of the SHIELD agents were men at these things since they could conceal a gun easier in a tux than in a dress. But the more he looked, the less he was convinced that any of the men were the mystery fourth agent, so his attention turned back to the women.

There was a short blond woman wearing far too many layers, but her age just didn't seem quite right to be who he was looking for. A redhead with breasts that were too big to be natural seemed to ill fit his criteria and the raven-haired, six foot tall beauty, clad in green, was far too elegant to be a SHIELD agent.

He was just about to give up when he saw the SHIELD agent by the cocktail sausages put a hand to his ear and look slightly alarmed. Tony froze as the building began to shake and the whole front of the building exploded.

His vision went white, his ears rang, he felt a tingling pass over his skin and all the air was knocked out of him as he landed hard against the opposite wall. There was shouting and gunshots were fired before a hand wrapped around his throat.

He looked up at the face of his attacker.

A blond man with a scar running down his left cheek and vivid green eyes that looked very familiar.

“You are Anthony Stark... Man of Iron.”

Tony didn't move or say anything, he couldn't, it felt like there was something gripping his heart.

“I know that you are...” The man tightened his grip, but his head was wrenched back by the woman in green. She held a fine dagger to his throat.

“Nari...” she hissed, “you will unhand the mortal or I will slit your filthy little throat.”

“And who might you be?” Nari asked with a wicked grin on his face.

“My name does not matter, unhand him.” 

The hand released from around Tony's throat and Nari teleported away. The woman looked murderous and waved her right hand to dissipate whatever magic it was in the air holding him down.

Tony slowly sat up, her hand took his and helped him stand, her arm wrapping around his waist.

“And so what _is_ your name?” Tony asked her.

She smiled a bit, though the smile looked strained. “There will be time for that later. You should go to Agent Kelvin over there, he's supposed to be looking after you.”

“Did you know he was going to attack here?” Tony asked.

“We heard rumours...”

“Did Loki tell you the rumours?”

“...Yes,” she said. “Loki told me that someone was hunting you and he asked me to protect you.”

“Why didn't he tell me himself? Or protect me himself?”

“I don't know, ask him,” the woman said. “I must go, I need to speak with Loki about this.” Without any warning she disappeared, leaving Tony wondering why the hell Loki's son was trying to kill him.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Tony had intended on demanding answers from Loki as soon as he saw him, but the problem was the god had disappeared along with Thor. He supposed the mystery woman had told Loki about his son and Loki had gone off to find him.

Tony spent most of the next week in his lab fixing up U. Butterfingers was back in operation and was just as quirky as before. It seemed their stint in the Pacific hadn't done their personalities any real damage. He was kept company by Bruce now and then, and he went to spar with Steve a few times that week, but mostly the time was spent in the lab with his bots just like it used to be.

He was determined to get all his bots up and running in the next week, and while working on a new suit it was the best break from new design. He found working on his bots somewhat therapeutic, his mind relaxed and drifted.

Today his mind was drifting mostly in the direction of a dark haired god.

Loki was a puzzle. A very curious puzzle that he wasn't sure he wanted to completely figure out, one he wasn't sure could ever _be_ completely figured out, even if given all the time in the universe.

He contemplated the 'thing' he and Loki had going and wondered just what the hell his son was doing trying to grab him. He also felt just a bit hurt that Loki hadn't come by to make sure he hadn't been brutally murdered. 

But the fact that he hadn't come back yet, even a week later, was less hurtful and more worrying. He wasn't sure what that said about his and Loki's 'thing' that he was worried about him. Was this another relationship he'd accidentally fallen into? He'd only been on four dates with the Asgardian, but they'd spent a lot of other time together in the lab and in a group watching television.

“JARVIS, define 'Relationship' for me, would you.”

“Of course sir. 'Re-la-tion-ship

1: A connection, association, or involvement.  
2: Connection between persons by blood or marriage.  
3: An emotional or other connection between people.  
4: A Sexual involvement; affair.”

There was a pause and Tony threw down his tools and rubbed his face.

“Might I inquire as to why you ask sir?”

“Oh, just trying to figure something out,” Tony said and sighed.

“If you are trying to 'define' what it is you and Mr Loki have between you, sir, I would say that 'relationship' is the most accurate term.”

“Oh? And how would you figure that?” Tony challenged.

“You fit three of the four previously mentioned definitions of the word 'relationship',” JARVIS said. “You have a connection by working together, you certainly have an emotional connection.”

“And the last?” Tony asked.

“Well sir, it is _you_. Based on previous evidence you have had some sort of sexual involvement with him.”

“Yeah, well... just don't tell Thor. He'd kill me.”

“Noted sir.”

“Put on some AC/DC. Loud, block out my brain if you can.”

Tony got back to work.

~*~*~*~*~*~

When Loki finally turned up again, it was over a week later, and he looked like death. He just sat silently on the couch in the living room of the Avengers' Tower, looking utterly gaunt and exhausted. Tony decided he'd give him a day to catch his breath and relax before interrogating him about his absence. He couldn't figure out why Loki was in the main living room, but when Thor turned up later that day, it became obvious.

The first sign of life Loki had all day was the moment Thor turned up. He shot out of his seat and smacked Thor hard across the jaw with a staff conjured in hand.

Clint immediately pulled a gun on Loki, as did Natasha, but the two brothers remained quite still as they stared at each other, Thor from his place on the floor looking up at Loki's furious gaze. Thor had gone down hard and Tony was honestly shocked when he didn't immediately retaliate. 

“Dare,” Loki said, “I dare you to say it, to command it.” Thor just continued to stare at Loki, his silence only seeming to anger him further. “GO! Say it!” Loki shouted.

“I will not fight you, brother!” Thor said as he stood.

“Always the same, the coward backs down when his brother issues a challenge!”

“And yet you cast stones at your own son, whom fought and killed his brother?” Thor asked. “Correct me if I speak out of turn, but you disowned Nari for challenging and killing Vali.”

Thor seemed to realise that this was the exact wrong thing to say the moment it left his mouth, and got his hammer up in time to block another blow from Loki. Tony and the others watched, not sure when or if they should interfere, Natasha and Clint still with guns still trained on Loki.

“That is different!”

“And how is it different!?” Thor asked.

“Nari _killed_ Vali.”

“And you killed me! Or did you forget that Loki? Your memory has clearly deserted you if you forget this so quickly!”

The temperature of the room dropped several degrees. “Well...” Loki said, his voice cold with anger, “I suppose that just proves that evil breeds evil then, doesn't it? How fortunate you are that I was adopted, so that you know that it is my _savage nature_ that created this problem.”

“Loki, I-”

Loki turned and walked away from Thor, but Thor got up and followed. “Do not walk away from me!”

As Loki continued to walk away, Clint and Natasha put away their guns.

“I will walk away if I so desire,” Loki said before pausing to turn and look at Thor. Tony followed as well, seeing tears in Loki's eyes. “I will walk away because I will not listen to you order me to hunt down and execute my own son.”

“You say you hate him.”

“He is my _son_ ,” Loki said with pain. “I love my son. I am angry with him, what he did was wrong... He set out to kill Vali. I– I did not set out to kill _you_. And what he is doing now... I expect it was my rejection of him. Rejection can do funny things to a man, I know, I have been there.”

“Loki...”

“I'm going to bed,” Loki said and disappeared off to his bedroom.

The silence was deafening, and for once Tony didn't have anything to say. Thor turned to look at all the eyes upon him.

He didn't say anything, just walked out to the balcony.

Tony wasn't sure what to do, where to go, but finally he found himself following Thor out onto the balcony. He was surprised to see a small but sad smile on Thor's face.

“Thor... why are you smiling?”

Thor looked at Tony and took a deep breath. “He called me 'brother',” he said. “In anger, without thinking, he still calls me 'brother'.” Thor looked out across New York and sighed. “I must go speak with our father about my nephew. I can trust you to watch over Loki?”

“Yeah,” Tony said, “I'll look after him.”

Without another word Thor took to the skies and Tony made his way back inside.

~*~*~*~*~*~

JARVIS told Tony that Loki had teleported out of his room the moment the door had closed. Tony wondered where the hell he had gone, he wanted to talk to him about the mysterious woman that had rescued him, but he wasn't to get his wish.

Unfortunately even with Nari attacking him, Amora's attack, Loki and Thor's argument and other miscellaneous Avengers' business, the world continued to turn. That meant that Tony had to get in his private jet and make his way out to Malibu to attend a shareholders' meeting and meet with Pepper over dinner, drinks, and maybe a movie while he powered through some paperwork.

The shareholders' meeting went well, the company was turning a pretty hefty profit with clean energy sources and other green energy projects like the Stark Car Engine that was a hydrogen fuel cell. Everything was coming up 'Tony' on that front, and they were still happy to have him in charge, even if everyone knew it was Pepper that did all the day to day running on the Tall Ship Stark.

They still argued from time to time, they still bickered about the same things, but it was easier now that there were no expectations of a relationship between them.

They sat together in Tony's Malibu house as he went over paperwork, Chinese food set out in front of them. Though they had set aside their paperwork for the time being in favour of eating and talking.

Things had been relaxed between them so far, something Tony was glad of, and as Tony watched Pepper eat he felt a little sad that things hadn't worked out between them, but eternally grateful that they had managed to remain friends.

He'd been talking, a lot, he knew that, but frankly it was more worrying when he was quiet over chatty. He had told her about his riding incident with Loki and then moved on to tell her about the ice skating in the middle of the night in Norway. He felt her eyes on him, her gaze intent in as she tried to figure something out.

“Tony... what's going on between you and Loki?” 

Tony frowned. “Nothing... just a bit of fun.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Really... Don't get all territorial, we're not a thing anymore,” Tony said, grabbing a spring roll. “We had an amicable decision to separate before we tried to kill each other... or rather, before you tried to kill me, because with Extremis, a legitimate concern for 'the man in the can'.”

Pepper flinched and Tony sighed, he hadn't meant to sound so annoyed. “Look... it doesn't-”

“What if I said I was stupid and I want you to fix me?” she said quickly. “What if I said I was stupid to let you stop looking to reverse this? What if I said... I love you, I miss you, and I need you to fix me?”

Tony stared, mouth half open. He put his chopsticks down and groaned, rubbing his face. If she'd come to him six months ago with this, if she'd come to him before he started to mend his heart and move on, then he probably would have jumped at this chance. Hell, if she'd come to him before Loki took him to Norway, then he probably would have been telling Loki to back off and that he wanted Pepper and 'let's just be friends'.

“You're going to say 'no', aren't you?” Pepper asked him.

“I'm going to say 'yes, I want to fix you',” Tony said looking at her levelly, “but... Pepper... Look, I love you, I do, but we can't do this again. We're not good for each other, not long term. Short term? Yeah, great, you ground me, you make me happy, but the shit I put you through... no.”

Pepper smiled a bit at that and she looked into her pork fried rice as if it could give her all the answers. “Loki,” she said and looked up at him. “He's... When you talk about him you get this look on your face, the look you used to get when you'd lie with me and we'd just talk. Like I was the only person in the world that mattered.”

Tony slid around to sit with her and took her hand, bringing it to his mouth to kiss her knuckles. “You were the only person on the world that mattered.”

“Then I ruined it,” Pepper said.

“No honey, _we_ ruined it,” Tony corrected her. “I can't let you take _all_ the credit.” He smiled a bit and she smiled in return. “And I might have been working on reverse engineering this shit all along anyway. It's taking a bit more time than I thought it would, and I haven't been putting all my time into it because you seemed happy with it stable... but I can fix it, I promise.”

She sighed. “Good,” she said and turned to him, kissing him softly on the lips. “I'm sorry...”

“Me too,” Tony said, and pulled her into a hug.

They sat together for a few minutes until Pepper took a deep breath. “Okay, paperwork,” she told him and Tony smiled.

“Yeah, paperwork,” he agreed, and for about ten minutes the air was tense, but slowly they began to relax and somehow they both felt lighter for their conversation.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Arriving back in New York a few days later, Tony set to work on Extremis, making it his pet project of the moment. So engrossed in his work was he, that he almost missed when Loki walked into his work room and sat down. He didn't look up from his computer, didn't look away, but felt a sort of buzz on the air that accompanied Loki wherever he was.

“So, who's the woman?” Tony asked.

“What?” Loki asked rubbing his face.

“The woman who saved me from your son. Was that Sigyn?”

“No,” Loki said, sitting down on a nearby stool.

“Why didn't you tell me he was after me? She said you knew,” Tony said trying to sound nonchalant.

Loki sighed. “I hoped I was wrong,” he admitted quietly. “They have another mage tracking him. They will not find him, he is difficult to track,” Loki said as he rubbed his face.

Tony frowned, Loki's words didn't sound quite right. He sounded like he was telling Tony a very well rehearsed lie. He finally looked up and he startled as he stared at Loki, he looked like shit. He looked like he hadn't slept or washed in days. He wanted to ask questions, to poke and prod, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He got up, moving over to Loki, took his hands in his and pulled him to his feet. “Come on,” he said and began walking.

“Where are you taking me?” Loki asked.

“To bed.”

“ _Tony_.”

“To _sleep_ , I promise,” Tony said. “Come on, let's go up using my elevator to my penthouse. That way Thor won't see you and pester you.”

It was testament to how tired he was that Loki let himself be led. He followed behind Tony into the elevator. He stood quietly beside Tony as the elevator went up to the penthouse floor to the bedroom, and as they entered Tony's bedroom Loki seemed unsure.

“I promise it's just to sleep. You lie down, rest, you look like you need it. Thor won't bother you up here. I know you don't much like sleeping with other people around, so I'll leave you be as well. If you need anything, just ask JARVIS.” As Tony walked towards the door to leave, Loki took his hand, stopping him.

He looked at Tony and leaned in to kiss him softly on the lips. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

Tony smiled, “You're welcome.”

He left Loki alone in his bedroom before heading into the living room to his computer console. “JARVIS, transfer everything from downstairs to this console, would you?”

“Of course sir.”

“Good man.”


	4. Written in Scars

Chapter 4 – Written in Scars

The Extremis formula was proving to be easier to reverse engineer now that he had the time to devote to it. He wasn't sure how long he'd spent there at the computer, but when hands rested upon his shoulders and a kiss met his neck, he figured it had been more than a couple of hours now that the sun appeared to have fully set.

“What are you up to?” Loki asked, thumbs rubbing the back of Tony's neck.

“I'm looking to reverse engineer Extremis for Pepper,” Tony said. “She asked me to the other day when I was in Malibu.”

Loki's fingers stilled, “Oh...”

“She asked me to 'fix' her,” Tony said.

“Why?” Loki asked.

“Because she's unhappy and she's realised that it was Extremis that fucked our relationship up. Not that I was callous enough to say that, but she knows it was a major factor.”

“Oh...” Loki said, pulling his hands away. The tone had changed from curious to closed in one single moment. Before Loki could pull away completely, Tony turned and took his hands, stopping him moving further.

“I told her I'd help fix her,” Tony said, “nothing more.”

Loki stared at him. “Why?” he asked.

“Because...” For a few moments, Tony considered saying 'you', but he had heard Loki say over and over that their 'relationship' was forbidden. He'd heard Thor say it too, but it was true, this relationship he had with Loki, it was more than he'd ever expected. Pepper had been right. “Because I told her I didn't want to have my heart broken again, because she and I aren't right for each other.”

Loki smiled a bit, moving a bit closer, “Oh... well I hope that you can help her.”

“I will,” Tony said with a grin. “I'm Tony fucking Stark. I can do anything.”

Loki's smile turned to a grin. “I know you can do anything that you set your mind to. You're too stubborn not to succeed.”

“Noticed that did you?” Tony asked with a small smile.

“Hard to miss.” 

Silence passed between them for a few moments. Tony considered the things he wanted to ask, the things he wanted to say but finally he settled on, “You hungry?”

“Famished,” Loki said.

“Pizza?” Tony asked

Loki smiled a bit. “I wouldn't say no.”

Tony nodded. “JARVIS, order us two sixteen inch pizzas, one meaty, one veggie,” he said. “And put the T.V. on, I think it'll be dinner and a movie tonight.” Tony smiled a bit at Loki, “Not the most exciting of our 'dates' but-”

Loki kissed him on the lips. “Spending a bit of time with you is enough,” he said and something seemed to spark in his eyes. “I'll wait for you on the couch then, while you finish up in here.”

They parted company, Tony watched Loki walk from the room, and he smiled to himself. He was really looking forward to the pizza and the movie much more than he ought to be. He closed down his systems, transferred some data to a Stark Tablet and went out to join Loki on the couch.

Their pizza came, they ate together as the movie played, and once they had both eaten their fill they sat back on the couch. Loki naturally gravitated towards him as it played and from the back of the couch, Tony grabbed a throw blanket that had remained on the couch from the days in which Pepper used to live there.

This had been a common way for them both to spend an evening, before everything went to shit.

“Do you watch a lot of movies?” Loki asked him.

“Not tons, I have a few genres I like,” Tony said. “I hate romantic comedies, but thankfully so did Pepper. She told me once she wants to eviscerate Hugh Grant, that was after Extremis. I teased that I might need to call and warn the guy, because with that strength and temper of hers it was a legitimate concern that she might just do it.”

Loki laughed a bit. “Just as well she wants to have this abomination done to her 'fixed'.”

“Abomination?” Tony asked.

“I looked at the science behind it... It is a very dangerous game they play with human genetics. Your genes are already changing, there is no need to help it along.”

“Changing how?”

“The mutants,” Loki said. “Slowly your species is evolving. But your species fears change like any other, and so the 'status quo' rebels against it.” Loki looked to Tony now. “You all have the _potential_ to change, to use magic, to evolve, but Pepper... she was _forced_ to do so. The All Father, he saw your potential as a species and that was why he was so intent to protect you from monsters.”

“Monsters...” Tony said as Loki looked back at the television, “what monsters?”

“The Frost Giants whom tried to take over Midgard centuries ago.”

“They're not 'monsters' Loki,” Tony said.

“How do you know that? You do not know them, you do not-”

“I know _you_ ,” he said, and felt the man still beside him. He wrapped his arm around him tighter, sensing his urge to leave. “They can't be born monsters, because _you_ were born to them and you're not a monster.”

“You would not say that if you knew what I truly looked like,” Loki said, his voice quiet.

“I already saw it,” Tony said, recalling the fight with the Fire Giants, where Loki had saved his ass by going all frosty on him.

“You very clearly did not see it properly,” Loki said.

“I saw you well enough. Show me again, I might surprise you.”

“I doubt it, no one has yet been comfortable seeing me in that skin.”

“Show me,” Tony said.

“No,” Loki refused, “I cannot. I do not want _you_ to look at me with such hateful eyes.” He slowly sat up, the movie having finished. “I'm going to go down to bed.”

Tony watched Loki stand, run his hand through his hair and begin to walk. He was torn, he didn't want to let Loki go, but he thought that Loki probably needed the space.

“Loki,” he said as Loki reached the elevator door. Loki paused at the door, but did not look at him.

“You know, if you go down there... Thor's down there. Why don't you just... stay here.”

Loki's hand paused at the call button for the elevator. He looked very conflicted, but his hand moved forward to the button to press and the doors opened. “Goodnight Tony,” Loki said quietly and stepped into the elevator.

As the doors closed behind him, Tony sighed. He'd fucked that up, but he knew that Loki needed to talk about it, Loki needed someone to accept that part of him. And Tony, being Tony, was curious. He couldn't help but poke, prod and figure someone out, and that was a big part of Loki. It was a huge part of his psyche and his reasons for hating who he was, _what_ he was.

He got up, picking up Loki's glass and setting it in the kitchen before he took himself back to the workroom.

“Sir, might I suggest you go to bed? It's after 2:00am.”

“Whatever,” Tony said, sitting down at the console again, putting it on to work on Pepper's cure. “Just put the music on, JARVIS.”

Tony knew if JARVIS could sigh he would, but when he said, “Very well sir,” it was with the tone of a long suffering partner.

~*~*~*~*~

It took him four days.

In all that time he hadn't seen Loki again but now he was on his way back to Malibu to see Pepper and start administering the cure. He'd gotten wrapped up in his work, hid from the world as he tweaked Extremis on a very secure server and ignored the gnawing in his gut that told him he was in the middle of a rocky road with Loki. 

En route to Malibu he got a call from Agent Coulson.

“Coulson!”

“Mr Stark,” Coulson said. “Agent Thorne and I will be waiting for you when you land.”

“Agent Thorne?” Tony asked. Usually Coulson worked alone or with other 'nameless' agents.

“Yes, I think you've met her before,” Coulson told him, which piqued Tony's interest.

As the plane landed and he disembarked he saw Coulson standing with a tall, beautiful, and very familiar, raven haired woman.

“Agent Thorne...” Tony said walking up to her, “do I get a first name?”

“Not as of yet Mr Stark,” she said with a smile. “I have no doubt that by the end of the day you will have my first name by way of hacking into SHIELD.”

Tony grinned and shook her hand. “I feel like someone's been talking about me.” He gave a pointed look to Coulson, but Coulson didn't react. Damn that man and his unflappable nature.

“Come along Mr Stark, we have a car waiting.”

As they got into the car and it began to move, Agent Thorne took to staring out the window as if she was looking for something.

“You expecting something to happen?”

“I'm always expecting something to happen,” she said, “or do you forget how we first met?”

“Well no... By the way, I still don't know why Loki's son was trying to kill me.”

“Well... he wasn't,” she said and looked at him. “Have you not asked _him_ about it?”

“No,” Tony said.

“Why not?”

“Because I don't really want to rub salt in the wound that is his son. I already heard him and Thor argue about him, so I'm asking _you_.”

She looked thoughtful at that and looked back out of the window. “He was trying to hunt and kill Loki. You were simply caught in the crossfire.”

“Crossfire... and how did he track me instead then? Does he know that Loki and I are-”

Tony felt Coulson's eyes on him now. “That you and Loki are..?” Coulson prompted.

Tony turned to look at Coulson, but noticed that Coulson wasn't just looking at _him_ , he was also looking at Agent Thorne.

“They are very good friends,” she said.

“Yeah... that.”

“No, he doesn't know. He had no idea who you were until that night,” Thorne said. “In fact, he still does not know the significance of you, but he knows that you are important to Loki.”

“And – wait, I'm important to Loki? How did you know that?”

“He told me,” she said.

“He tells you a lot of things,” Tony said.

“He...” she smiled faintly, “is the other half of me, but more like a brother than anything else.”

“Uh-hu...” Tony said, scrutinizing her. “Okay, so say I am important to Loki. How does Nari know that?”

“Magic,” Thorne said, “your aura is... tainted.”

Tony stilled at that, he wondered vaguely if Loki could get in trouble for it. He wondered if Loki would be marched back off to Asgard for trial if it was discovered. “Shit,” he said.

“Indeed,” Thorne said.

“I hope he doesn't get in trouble for that. Will other people notice it?”

She gave him a very funny look. “Do you not understand?” she asked. “His magic is trying to infect you and take you over.”

“I don't care,” Tony said, and again he could feel Coulson's eyes on him. It would probably be best to leave this conversation until he could have Thorne in private. “Never mind,” he said and sighed, settling back into the seat of the car.

~*~*~*~*~

The rest of the journey was quiet, and when Tony turned up to tell Pepper the good news, she was in a meeting. At first she was angry when he just walked into the meeting, but when he leaned into her ear and whispered, "You have a hospital appointment," she looked ecstatic.

The serum that was used to reverse Extremis was going to be just as painful as Extremis itself was. Tony warned her about it, but she was happy to go ahead. At every moment of the procedure, either Coulson or Thorne was with Tony.

Agent Thorne and Pepper turned out to know each other. Apparently she had been assigned as Coulson's new protégée, and whenever he dealt with Pepper and Stark Industries for SHIELD, Thorne was there with him.

As Pepper lay in bed on the third day, sleeping and recovering, Agent Thorne was present as Tony checked her vitals. He was tired, he'd been up for three days and Pepper was sedated to let her body rest from the trauma it had just endured.

Knowing Pepper was sound asleep, and thinking this might be the last chance he had to have Agent Thorne alone, Tony looked at her.

“So...” he said, “this whole 'magical taint' thing, can someone else see that Loki's magic is in my aura or is it just if someone is actively looking for it? Because I don't want Loki getting into trouble over this.”

“I... do not know,” she said, “but he cannot keep doing what he was doing. He has gone back to Asgard.”

Tony frowned. “Bullshit,” he said. “I called home, had JARVIS check his room. All his stuff is still there, he hasn't been back in a few days, but he's not _gone_. He wouldn't have left without saying goodbye either, he doesn't like loose ends.”

Agent Thorne stared at him before she shook her head. “Believe that if you must.”

“I'll ask Thor,” Tony said, pulling out his phone, “he'll tell me, and if he _has_ gone back to Asgard, I'll find some way to go after him.”

“Why?” Agent Thorne asked, looking at Tony now with a confused expression. “Why would you go after a fallen Prince whom is naught but a monster? He is a Frost Giant, he kills, he lies, he wounds and -”

“Because I love him,” Tony said matter of factly and began to punch in Thor's number. It was the first time he'd said it, the first time he'd even thought it, but it was true and dangerous.

Before he could press call, Agent Thorne stepped up to him and deftly took the phone from his hands.

“Hey!” he protested.

“You _love_ him?” she asked, her voice scathing. “You barely know him.”

“I know him well enough,” Tony retorted, bristling under her tone. “And how the hell would you know?”

“I... I just know these things,” she said with a glare and threw the phone at him. She stared at Tony, an unreadable expression in her eyes and then anger overwhelmed her features.

“He is a monster from Jotunhiem. You'd be best rid of him, best to put him down and save any of your suffering.”

“No,” Tony said, “I'm not 'best rid of him'. I've been happier in his company than I can remember being in quite a while. We have fun and I enjoy any time I spend with him. So you, shut up and don't talk about things you don't really know anything about.”

The room was silent then and Tony decided not to call Thor. He was sensing this woman had a personal vendetta against Loki and he was suddenly more on guard and less keen on her.

“Just go,” he said after about half an hour of her staring. “Pep and I will be fine.”

The next time he looked up to see if she was still there, she was gone. 

He couldn't say he was unhappy about that.

~*~*~*~*~

He returned home once Pepper was back on her feet. He was glad to be back in New York, he'd missed his tower and the company of the other Avengers, but more than that, he'd missed Loki.

Unfortunately Loki wasn't really around.

JARVIS confirmed that the Asgardian had been coming back and forth from his room and had been looking more and more agitated with every passing return. He spent time in his room every day and then disappeared again using his teleportation magic.

Everything seemed quiet, that was until a meeting was called by Fury on the Helicarrier. He sat with the other Avengers around the conference table, and again Loki was at the head of the group holding the meeting.

Tony was tired, and as such was feeling particularly pissy at being dragged all the way to the Helicarrier for another stupid meeting. He had sleep to be catching up on.

“The creature's name is 'Thanos',” Loki told the assembled Avengers. “He is a creature of immense power, utterly deranged and psychotic -”

“How psychotic are we talking?” Clint asked.

“He's in love with Death. I speak of the physical personification, not the abstract idea of death in the-”

“How can he be in love with death?” Steve asked.

“By being very 'anti life',” Loki said. “As I was saying he-”

“Isn't that just 'depressed'?” Tony asked. “Maybe we should bring him to New York, take him to a strip club, show him what being 'pro life' is all about?”

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose while Clint sniggered and Natasha rolled her eyes. After a moment Loki looked to Fury. “Would you please tell the school children that when they are ready to behave themselves and take the threat of a monster whom wishes to destroy all life in the galaxy seriously, I will return.”

Loki began walking towards the door.

“Brother, wait, we-”

“For the _last time_ ,” Loki hissed, “I am not your _brother_.”

He stormed out and Thor sighed, rubbing his forehead. This time however, Tony noticed something about the tone and Loki's body language. Something he'd missed before, something too subtle for Thor to ever pick up on.

“I'll go get him,” Tony said and got up before anyone else could tell him not to go.

It didn't take him long to find Loki. He stood on one of the observation lounges looking out over the ocean, his hands resting upon a railing, his shoulders hunched over. Tony closed the door behind him and locked it.

“He loves you,” Tony said.

Loki shook his head. “No... he does not,” Loki said, straightening up.

“That's not true,” Tony said, walking towards Loki.

“It is,” Loki said. His tone was off, trying to sound cold like he didn't care, but Tony had grown to know Loki over the past months and he knew that tone. He was upset. “Thor loves the brother he lost. He loves the memory of who and what I once was, not _me_ ,” Loki said and turned to look at Tony. “He does not know the first thing about me.”

“How do you know that?” Tony asked.

“I just do,” Loki said and sighed. “I wish he would leave me be.”

“Why?”

“Because... his attention is infuriating.”

“That's not it,” Tony said.

“Oh?” Loki asked, within a heartbeat Loki's tone had gone from sad to hostile. He turned, his tone and gaze accusing, “Then what is it exactly? Would you be so kind as to enlighten me then dear Tony Stark?”

If someone could use sarcasm to put someone in a coma, Tony had the passing thought that Loki could probably manage it. Luckily for him, he was well versed in the art of sarcasm himself and so it was just like water off a duck's back. Hearing the sarcasm, though ignoring it, he answered Loki's question.

“He sees the guy you are at your heart,” Tony said. “The guy I've seen over the past few months. The guy that likes culture, ice skating, lazy days spent on a beach, swimming and building sandcastles. He remembers the brother he grew up with and wonders where he went.”

“He died,” Loki said decisively, turning back to staring out the window, and Tony found himself disagreeing.

“No, he got hurt and he changed. Scars change people, I know that from experience, both from myself and from Pepper. Scars will either destroy you or make you stronger. My past and yours is written in scars.”

Loki continued watching out of the window and just when Tony was sure he wasn't going to speak, he opened his mouth and spoke softly.

“Written in scars...” he echoed, turning towards Tony. His hand moved, settling his fingers on Tony's chest where the scar was from the Arc Reactor. “Some more literally than others.”

“Yeah well, some of us like visual representations of life changing events.”

Loki smiled a bit, his hand moving to pull Tony close to him. “We can't...”

“We have fire,” Tony said. “Don't walk away from this because you're scared of hurting me. Don't walk away from us,” it was out of his mouth before he could stop it. Pepper had often told him he was seriously lacking a verbal filter and this just went to show that she was right (again).

Loki leaned in and kissed him softly. “We can have a little... and it will need to be enough.”

In that moment Tony was sure they both knew they had stepped over the line. 

And frankly, Tony didn't give a fuck.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Loki and Tony made their way back to the meeting room and Loki continued on with his presentation as if nothing had happened. He explained who Thanos was, and with some help from Thor, they explained that he had been a mad god of another pantheon of 'gods' who had gone nuts and killed the rest of his people, all but his brother.

He scoured the galaxy, created the Infinity Gauntlet, and only by the help of Malekith the Accursed, King Frey and the _Fire Giants_ of all things, were they able to stop him. Malekith and Odin took care of Thanos himself, sealing him inside a statue, ensuring he did not die and join Death, and Odin took the Infinity Gauntlet and hid it in his vault.

He explained that Thanos liked to destroy entire species, all except for one or two infants, and he would sometimes bring those children up as his own to do his bidding. Thanos was trying to find the Infinity Gauntlet once more, to woo his lady, and had decided recently (after Loki's failed take over) that Earth was the perfect target. It was also a convenient gateway to Asgard and Loki told them that he had discovered his son, Nari, was working for Thanos. 

Later that day, the group made their way back to Avengers HQ, except Loki who remained behind to do something with Fury. When he turned up later that night in Tony's apartment at the Tower, he didn't comment on it, just watched as Loki walked over and sat beside him on the couch. 

A few moments of just sitting, Loki kicked his boots off and lay down on the couch, his head in Tony's lap as the T.V. played. Tony's hand rested on Loki's arm, rubbing gently up and down and then moved to slowly massage Loki's scalp, running his fingers through the god's hair.

Loki's breathing evened out and he fell asleep. Tony sighed softly, looking down at the sleeping god. He was exhausted and he looked thin.

“JARVIS, has Loki been sleeping here?”

“He's been in his room working mostly sir, but I have not observed him sleeping for three days.” Tony shook his head a bit and pulled a throw blanket from the back of the couch, spreading it out over Loki.

Tony sighed and as his elevator pinged, he cursed softly at the doors as they opened and Thor walked out.

“Tony, have you seen-”

Thor paused, his eyes resting on his brother sleeping with his head on Tony's lap. Thor looked very conflicted and he looked up now at Tony. “He is asleep.”

“He is, don't bother him.”

“I won't,” Thor said, walking towards Tony, speaking quietly now as he went. “I have never known him to fall asleep out of his room.”

Tony frowned, “Never?”

“No,” Thor said. “He did so once and never again.”

“Why?”

Thor sat down on one of the chairs so he could watch Loki sleep. The expression on Thor's face was one of rapture and disbelief. “Because when he once fell asleep outside his chamber, four elves grabbed him and tried to take his honour.”

Tony let that sentence sink in for a moment. 'Take his honour' could have a few connotations but the way Thor said it, it didn't take Tony long to figure it out.

“Why would -”

“Magic,” Thor said. “He has told you about his... condition?”

“Yeah...” 

“There are those whom want magic that would take advantage of a sleeping mage. Loki was lucky, he woke before they could do anything to him and used his power to protect himself. Most mages sleep behind locked, warded doors for these very reasons.”

Tony looked down at Loki and went back to running his fingers through Loki's hair. He felt Thor's eyes upon him but he didn't care.

“I will leave my brother in your care,” Thor said and he stood. “Good day Tony Stark.”

Thor left the apartment without another word and as he left, Loki spoke softly, “I thought he would never leave.”

Tony grinned as Loki sat up and Tony stood, taking Loki's hand in his and pulling him to stand. “What are you doing?”

“Taking you to bed,” Tony told him, leading him towards his bedroom.

“To sleep?”

“You can sleep if you want to,” Tony said, “but I'll be doing unspeakable things to your cock.”

“Tony-”

“The way I figure it, if we're careful, we're golden. Come on.”

“You can't ingest any of my bodily fluids,” Loki warned.

“Well then I guess you'll just need to warn me, won't you?”

They tumbled into bed together, and Loki didn't complain or fight him on the plan. His hands moved over Tony's back, gripping tightly as his mouth found the pulse of his throat.

Loki switched their positions, pulling Tony to him, kissing him on the mouth as their hands found unexplored places, fingers trailing around and Loki's fingers dipping into sensitive flesh.

Tony didn't stop him as he used magic to summon lube and teased his entrance with his fingers. Didn't stop him as he pushed a finger past the tight ring of muscle. He heard Loki groan as he thrust the finger in and out.

“So tight... I bet you'd feel wonderful... I want you so much...” There was a deep almost desperate tone to Loki's voice and all rational thinking went out the window along with it. Tony's hand blindly reached to the bedside table and he pulled out a condom, pushing it into Loki's hand. Loki looked down at it and then at Tony and his breath caught. “Yes... that might... By the nine... it's a risk-”

Tony sat up and kissed Loki deeply, breaking off any other words. He silently helped Loki put the condom on himself. It was sensual and Loki's soft gasp as Tony finished almost pulled Tony apart right away, but he was glad he kept himself together as the moment the condom was fully on, Loki pushed Tony down onto his back and his fingers went right back to what they were doing before.

Two fingers now. It had been some time since Tony had been fucked, several years in fact, but he remembered it being a pretty good experience. A third finger entered him and the way Loki angled his fingers, it passed right over Tony's prostate every time he thrust in and out.

He was panting, so was Loki, and he felt Loki's hand leave him, Loki's more than modest length pressing against him. Slick and hard, desperately wanting.

They locked eyes, Loki's hands pushed Tony's knees up, and slowly he slid forward.

It felt divine. Loki filled him, pushed in to the hilt, and they both groaned. It wasn't going to be long and as Loki pulled back and pushed in again, they felt something pass between them. 

Tony didn't care, Loki didn't either and as their pace built, Tony was aware of someone swearing, it took him a few moments to realise he was the one making the desperate groans each time Loki slammed into him and Loki was the one swearing a litany of curse words in several different languages.

Loki's hand wrapped around Tony's cock and stroked, it ripped Tony apart and Tony's shattering pulled Loki right on over the edge with him.

Loki remained over Tony, breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath. Tony looked up at Loki, meeting his gaze once more and he reached his hand up, stroking Loki's cheek.

The god spoke softly, his tone one of awe. “You really do love me,” he said as if he'd heard Tony say it before, and as Tony looked into Loki's jewel green eyes he realised he'd seen those eyes in another face, but not the face of his son.

“You're Agent Thorne,” He said quietly, and as Loki tried to pull back Tony wrapped his legs around him, pulling him closer and kissing him deeply. “Yes, you idiot. I love you,” Tony told him.

It took a few moments but Loki stopped struggling.

“I love you too,” he admitted. 

They kissed, their touches desperate for a few moments, and when they parted Loki was giving him a very odd look, as if contemplating him closely. He finally flicked his wrist and a long thin necklace with a red gem on its end appeared in hand. Without a word, he slipped the necklace over Tony's head. Tony frowned and Loki spoke softly.

“A gift... keep it safe.” Loki said.

“What is it?”

“You don't need to know.” Loki murmured, “Just never take it off if you can help it.” He leaned in and kissed Tony's lips once more before taking his hand, “Come , lay with me.”

They settled together, Loki laying in Tony's arms and together they fell asleep.


	5. Awkward Family Moments

Chapter 5 – Awkward Family Moments

Loki had left him in the middle of the night.

No warning, no comment, no note. Tony hoped at first that Loki had just gone off to do something and then come quickly back but one night turned to two, turned to three and suddenly it seemed a week had gone by.

Tony didn't sleep very well at all that week, which wasn't unusual, at least not for him. He got _some_ sleep, which he supposed was something. 

The group was called together after lunch and it wasn't until Steve came to retrieve him that he moved.

“Have you even taken a shower today?” Steve asked.

“No,” Tony said, looking down at the state he found himself in as he sat down.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Because I was busy having sex with Loki,” Tony said and leaned back in his chair, enjoying the look on Steve's face for only a second until he remembered that Loki had left him.

“You're not funny,” Steve said.

“I think I'm hilarious. Now, more to the point, what do you want?”

“Your new suit is finished?” Steve asked.

“I knew you only loved me for my suits,” Tony muttered.

“Tony, have you been drinking?”

“Just a little,” Tony said.

“It's only 2!”

“It's always six o'clock somewhere in the world,” Tony defended. He didn't drink that much really, he'd only had a couple of glasses of scotch when he got up. Sure he hadn't eaten anything, but he wasn't really in an eating mood what with Loki leaving him.

The rest of the Avengers arrived and Natasha began the briefing. “Nari, Loki's son, has gone to Asgard and stolen a relic. He's stolen something called 'the Infinity Gauntlet', it's not at full strength but there is a way he can use it to open a portal.”

“According to my source, Thanos is waiting beyond with the rest of the Chitauri and an army gifted to him from Death,” Thor said. “Hel is going to aid us in the defence of Midgard, as are Jorgumand and Fenrir. Loki went off to visit with them recently and they have a wish to see their brother taken into custody, not killed,” Thor told them with a sigh.

“Where's Loki?” Tony asked.

“I was hoping you might be able to tell me that,” Thor said. “He has... gone missing.”

“Well that doesn't exactly bode well for this fight,” Natasha said.

“No it doesn't.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Tony and Bruce were together in the lab in Stark Tower. They were running numbers and Tony reached out for his drink. He sipped his iced tea and felt Bruce's eyes on him. Looking up into Bruce's startled gaze, “What?” he asked.

“You... Did you just summon that glass to you?” Bruce asked.

“What?” Tony asked. “No it was right-” he looked at where he had picked up his glass from and his eyes traced the line of condensation that had trailed along with the glass as it had apparently sped towards his hand.

Both men stared silently for a few minutes and Bruce asked, “Okay so... how did you...”

“I have no idea.” Tony said, setting the glass down in it's original spot about two feet away at the other console. He set his hand on the table, concentrated on the glass and watched as it slowly slid towards him.

“Well shit,” Tony said and rubbed his chest.

Clearly that was magic.

He didn't feel any different, did he? He thought about it objectively for a few minutes. Since he and Loki had slept together he'd been too focused on feeling to think on the physical side of how he was. First the elation of the night before, then upset and pissed off that Loki had disappeared come morning. Now that he thought about it, now that he concentrated, he realised he felt good, /really good/.

 

“I need to find Loki,” Tony said as he got up and Bruce frowned.

“Why?” Bruce asked.

“Because... well... he's a mage and he'll know what to do about this magic mumbo jumbo. If it even is magic, not that I think it is, it could be something I ate.”

Tony was aware he was rambling, but he needed to get out of there, he needed to think.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Central Park was as good a place as any for Tony to clear his head. The sky was bright blue and everyone seemed happy as they went about their lives. Tony's hand reached for the red stone beneath his shirt, it was the only thing Loki had ever given him and since he'd been given it, he didn't take it off very much.

He sat on a bench in the park, watching the world go by, contemplating what had happened in the lab. Had it been the stone he was wearing around his neck that caused it? Had it been sleeping with Loki? If it had, why was he well and alive instead of stuck in a fever? Loki had warned him over and over that it was dangerous for them to be together, but so far he was still alive.

And apparently a little magical.

God he wanted Loki. He wanted the god to return, to be by his side, now that he knew Loki felt the same he felt a bit pissed off that he'd just disappeared. Love wasn't something he found or gave easily and for Loki to just fuck off, well it irritated him, but then he remembered Loki also telling him it was forbidden. 

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the bench and groaned.

“Is my father really worth so much trouble?” asked a voice.

Tony opened his eyes, looking up at the face now staring down at him.

Nari's eyes were cold and hard. They were the same colour and shape as Loki's eyes, but they held none of the fire within. He was without his suit, without any guards, and no one knew where he was.

“What are you going to do now, Man of Iron?” Nari asked with a smile. “There are no mages around to rescue you this time. There are no Agents to protect you, and you are once more without your suit.”

Nari grinned at him, flicking his wrist to conjure a fireball. Tony got up and as Nari threw the fireball at him his hands automatically rose up to shield himself. He knew he couldn't do anything about the fireball, but maybe he could stop it hitting his face and chest? Everything seemed to go in slow motion and he closed his eyes, waiting for the fire to hit him.

Only it never did.

“What trickery is this!?” Nari screamed at him as people began to run in all directions away from the fight. Nari threw another fireball and another, but they just bounced off an invisible shield circling Tony.

Tony was confused, but then he felt a warmth against his skin from the red gem around his neck and he felt himself grin. Loki might not be there, but he'd left him some protection.

Nari threw a few more fireballs, but they had little effect on the shield. He changed track, electricity now blasting from his hands and Tony felt it penetrate the shield and zapping him a bit. He yelped, but his focus intensified and the shield became stronger.

Luckily he didn't have to hold out long, as he heard a thump nearby and then Mjolnir flew past Tony and almost crashed into Nari, who dodged just in time. Nari created his own shield as Thor stood, swinging his hammer.

“Nari.”

“Uncle Thor,” Nari said with a grin.

“You are no nephew of mine,” Thor said. “You're coming with me to Asgard to face justice and-”

“JUSTICE!?” Nari screamed, and Tony flinched a bit at the furious, scathing tone. “Do not speak to ME of JUSTICE Thor Odinson!” 

“You whom murdered your own brother just-”

“I who protected myself!” Nari howled in rage, “I who rid this world of an evil man!”

“Enough!” Thor declared. “Nari, you are coming with me!”

“I AM NOT!” Nari hollered and the Infinity Gauntlet appeared in his hand. “I will show you Thor, I will-”

Before Nari could get any further with his rant, a blast of green energy hit him from behind, throwing him forward. Loki was standing in his Asgardian armour, with three other people by his side. Nari got up and cast a shield around himself as Loki and the other three moved forward.

“Stand down Nari,” Loki said.

“Fuck you,” Nari replied.

The woman beside Loki spoke. “Brother, you must stand down.”

“I must do _nothing_ ,” Nari said and grinned, lifting the Infinity Gauntlet to show his father. “I will show you the truth, I will-” Nari frowned, looking at the gauntlet, “Why... why won't it work?”

Loki pulled a chain from beneath his robe, similar to the one Tony held, but at it's end there was a yellow gem. The woman to his left pulled out a green one, the man to her right a blue, then the other man with Loki pulled out a purple one. Thor frowned and then Tony smiled a little, pulling the chain from beneath his shirt, showing the red gem.

Nari's eyes turned between them all. “No...” he whispered. “But time, I have-”

“Odin has time,” Loki told him, crossing his arms over his chest. “Stand down, son.”

That seemed to shock Nari into action. He stopped immediately and dropped the gauntlet.

“Son..? You have not called me 'son' since...”

“I spoke with Vali,” Loki admitted. “I have been in Niffleheim convincing your sister to allow me access to him. He is among the dishonoured dead, I know what he tried to do to you, Nari. Why did you not tell me?”

“Because you would not have believed me, believed that he would have tried to take from his own brother in such a way, any more than Odin was willing to believe that _he_ -” he pointed at Thor, “-would be a fool for a king.”

Loki closed his eyes, the comment seemed to have hurt him. “Nari, just-”

“No!” he shouted and his arms moved, conjuring a cloak of flame around himself. “It is too late! I will watch you _burn_.” He threw a wall of fire at Loki and his siblings, but before the wall of flames could hit them, Tony's arms had raised once more and the shield he created was stronger than ever.

This time, he felt a warmth from within himself as the magic was cast, and when the fire had receded, Nari had disappeared. Instead of looking relieved, the group seemed even more troubled, and it was then Tony noticed they were all looking at _him_.

“What?” he asked.

“ _Magic_ ,” Thor hissed and he stormed towards his brother.

He grabbed Loki by the shirt, but Loki pushed him off. “He has the power gem you idiot!”

Thor deflated at that and looked at Tony, who held up the red gem. “Oh... yes... I suppose that he does.” Then he looked back at Loki. “Take your children home.”

Loki looked set to argue, but he merely sighed and turned. “Alright children... Hella you can see yourself home. Jorgumand, Fenrir, come here.”

Without warning, the group disappeared, leaving Thor and Tony alone. Thor walked over to Tony and stared down at him. Tony hadn't ever been afraid of Thor, but the look in the Thunder God's eyes made him very wary at that particular moment and he was infinitely glad that he still had that power gem hung around his neck.

“We need to talk.” Thor told him and gripped Tony. It was a moment before Tony realised what Thor meant, and before he could protest he was being flown up into the air with Thor's arm around his waist, holding him tight.

He remembered shrieking a little, but if ever asked about it he'd say it was a 'manly holler'.

They landed on the helipad of Stark Tower, and Tony fell to his knees momentarily with the bump. He much preferred landing in his suit, the landing was much smoother.

“What is going on between you and my brother!?” Thor demanded.

“None of your damn business!” Tony shot back and immediately regretted the words as Thor grabbed him and all but threw him into his penthouse. Well shit, the last time he fought with a god up here, the penthouse came out rather the worse for wear.

“I am the Crown Prince of Asgard and he is my brother. Of course it is my business!”

Tony stood and he put a hand around the power gem hanging around his neck to raise a shield between himself and Thor.

“Thor, calm the fuck down!” Tony shouted.

Thor stood still, his eyes running over the shield Tony had cast. “ _Magic_...”

“Power Gem,” Tony reminded him.

“You cast that last shield around Loki and his children without touching the stone, Tony Stark. I know what I saw, you have magic somehow, yet you have not had the fever. Tell me what has transpired between you and my brother!”

“He's not your brother!” Tony shouted and Thor brought Mjolnir down upon the shield. Tony breathed a sigh of relief as the hammer crashed against the shield but didn't seem to do any damage.

“He _is_ ,” Thor said, glaring at Tony even as he backed off. “He is just... angry. I still do not understand exactly why.”

Tony blinked at that. How could Thor not know what had caused Loki to pull away from their family? Thor had told them the story of Loki's fall, and Loki himself had told Tony a little of his anger at having his heritage hidden from him. 

“He's angry that he never felt like he fitted in with you and your buddies. He hates that your father sees you and not him, and he hates that he's jealous of that,” Tony explained. He remembered similar feelings towards Steve Rogers when he was a child, the man whom his father had so many kind words for when he was right there being ignored. This seemed to strike a chord within Thor, and he frowned after a moment but Tony went on. “He's trying to do what you and Odin want him to do, even if it means he's miserable.”

“He's miserable?” Thor asked.

“He is...”

“Why?”

Tony took a deep breath. “Because there's something he really wants and, because of some stupid _fucked up_ law, he can't have it. Even when the... thing he wants is a consenting... thing...”

Even Thor could work that genius code out. Tony blamed the flight and the fight he'd just endured.

“You...” Thor ran his hand over his face and sighed.

“Are you still gonna pummel me or can I put this shield down now?”

Thor looked at Tony. “I won't harm you.” Tony lowered his hands and Thor looked at him. “What has he told you?”

“He told me that we can't sleep together because it'll probably kill me. He told me that he loves me, but can't have me. He told me that if he sleeps with me and I catch magic, his probation will be over and he'll end up back in his cell again. It's stupid.”

“It is for your protection,” Thor said.

“I'm a big boy, Thor, I can take care of myself,” Tony told him. “And don't you think it's a cruel position to be put in that I love your brother so much I'm willing to risk my life, and yet I feel guilty at trying to push the issue because I know if he gets caught, _he_ gets punished when I'm the one... I'm the one that started it.”

Silence hung between them for a few minutes. Tony wondered what Loki would say when Thor confronted him about this, he wondered if Loki would be angry, wondered what was going through Thor's head. It was unlike him to be quiet for so long.

“I love my brother,” Thor said finally, looking thoughtful and then closed his eyes. “You go into this with your eyes open?”

“I do,” Tony confirmed.

“Then... go,” Thor said, looking at Tony, “Go and bring him happiness. Something I have been trying to do, but have not been able.”

Thor moved out to the landing pad, and without another word the thunder god was flying into the sky.

Tony sat down on his couch facing the windows, maybe he'd get some time to think? Maybe he'd get some time to relax before he had to consider what just happened today.

“I'm leaving,” Loki's voice came from behind him.

Tony rubbed his face. “No, you're not,” he said, looking over his shoulder at Loki, who was wearing Asgardian gear. “If you were going to leave, you'd just leave.”

Loki bowed his head and walked towards the couch. “I cannot do this any longer Tony. I cannot... I just cannot be teased with what we could be, what brilliance we could bring to the world, and know I can never have it.”

“Says who?” asked Tony as Loki walked towards the window and stood with his back towards him, the setting sun casting odd shadows around the room.

“Everyone,” Loki said. “The All Father, mother, Thor, Asgard in general.”

“Who the fuck cares what they say?” Tony asked.

“I care,” Loki said and smiled faintly. “As much as I tell them all I do not, I do. I love them, they are my family, and I have already caused them grief. I am trying to do what is right, no matter what my heart says. Always thinking everything through, thinking I have the best plan when often I don't.”

“Loki, don't-” At his name, Loki turned from the window to face Tony and the look on his face made Tony's words still in his throat. He looked exhausted and emotionally drained. He closed his eyes and looked back at the window, speaking softly as he did.

“I have loved but once before, but it was never like this,” Loki said. “Sigyn said my issue was that I think too much. Thor has said the same, and even Father and Mother have said things with similar sentiments. And it's true, you know, I do think too much.” He walked towards the window, looking out over New York. “I look at myself and I see a Frost Giant. I see hatred, anger, fear. Everything I am, I hate and despise on a base level. I have learned to keep everyone at a distance, even while I was serving my penance here. I remained in my room, I dealt with people only when I had to. I was getting by.” 

Tony didn't speak or move, he watched as Loki's form turned from his pale Asgardian skin to the blue he'd seen only once before, the blue of the Frost Giants, of Loki's birth people.

“I was getting by... everyone at a distance, because everything I touch or love I hurt, kill or ruin. And then you came along and you wouldn't let me push you away. You just kept throwing yourself at me, even when I hurt you, you didn't leave. So I told you the truth of the matter, hoping it would make you leave, I thought through my actions and knew you wouldn't take the risk. But you said yes...”

“Loki, look at me,” Tony said finally, walking towards him.

“I cannot,” Loki said, staring out over New York once more.

“Why not?” Tony asked, standing directly beside him now.

“Because... when I look at you, all I see staring back at me is love, and I stop thinking.”

“And why is that a bad thing?” Tony asked, stepping now directly in front of Loki, who had his eyes closed.

“Because if I stop thinking, I fear I will give into this temptation to have you and again I will destroy something that I love. And I cannot, I-”

Tony knew Loki was going to go off once more on a rant of how they couldn't be together. How he didn't know what he was getting himself into, but he couldn't let Loki do that. He simply stepped forward and kissed his lover on the lips, silencing him.

Tony spoke softly after a few moments, “Just stop, Loki. You already have me. I know the risks, I don't care, I've beaten worse odds. The risk is worth it, the shit is about to hit the fan, we might not get another chance at this,” he said. “I give you permission to stop thinking.”

Loki's eyes opened, fiery red staring down into dark brown. He ran both hands along Tony's shoulders and up through his hair.

“Laws be damned,” Loki said softly and moved forward to kiss him deeply.

It was another desperate kiss, all teeth, tongues, lips and grabbing. Loki's hands grabbed Tony's ass and Tony grabbed Loki's shirt, ripping it open, sending buttons flying everywhere.

The shirt was shed, as were Tony's T-Shirts thrown around the room as they moved to the bedroom. Loki's hands mapped out every inch of skin, lips caressing along his throat, finding the sensitive spot just where his shoulder and neck met that made him go weak. Whispered words of desire and love as Loki placed himself very neatly between Tony's open legs.

Tony stilled as Loki pressed his slick length against his entrance and he asked softly, one last time, “Are you certain?”

Tony's hands both reached up and threaded through Loki's hair before gripping the back of his neck and shifting a bit, “I am, I love you.”

Their lips met once more as Loki's hips slowly surged forward. Loki's shoulders shook and he trembled as they began to move. It felt amazing having Loki within him again and he couldn't wait to do the reverse. He couldn't wait to live through his fantasy of having Loki's gorgeous long legs wrapped around his waist.

All thoughts began to disappear as he felt fire beginning to burn through him. It wasn't an unpleasant burn, but he could feel _something_ building as Loki took him. Loki asked, his voice a husky whisper, “Do you feel it? My magic trying to burn inside you?”

“I feel it,” Tony said and groaned as Loki changed the angle of his hips to hit his prostate with each and every thrust.

“Do not fight the fire,” Loki instructed, kissing his neck, fingers wrapping around Tony's cock, “let it burn.”

Tony cried out as he came and the world went dark.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Loki had warned him that there would be a fever, but he didn't think it was going to be like this. He didn't think it would feel like his very bones were on fire. He threw off the thick layer of blankets that was on him and felt them all piled right back on again.

He felt two sets of hands lift him into a sitting position and pillows arranged at his back so he could sit up.

“He seems no better, brother. You are sure he will survive?” 

That sounded a lot like Thor's voice but it couldn't be, could it?

“Yes, he will survive. He is strong and we have been careful,” Loki said.

Tony smiled. “Loki,” he murmured softly.

“He is waking, you best speak with him Loki.”

Tony frowned a bit, he didn't recognise that voice at all.

He cracked open an eye and found himself not in his tower as he expected, but in an opulent room with Loki by his right and Thor standing to his left, with an older woman with him.

“Tony?” Loki asked, sitting on the edge of the bed, a hand cupping Tony's cheek, “Can you hear me?”

“Yeah, I hear you...” he said quietly, looking at Loki now. “Where on Earth are we?”

Loki smiled a bit. “We are not on Earth at all. We are on Asgard.”

“ _Asgard_?”

“Yes,” Thor said. “After we spoke, I returned home and shared what I knew with mother... She and father... discussed things.”

“Discussed..?” Tony began shoving blankets off again and Loki pulled them all back on. 

“Stop that.”

“But I'm too warm,” Tony protested.

“The fever needs to burn out,” Loki told him. “The faster it burns, the hotter it burns, the quicker you will be back on your feet.”

Tony sighed softly and closed his eyes. “Fine, fine...” he yawned widely.

“Mother, brother, I would appreciate some time alone with my consort.”

“Of course,” Frigga said, and she and Thor left the room. As they did, Loki climbed properly onto the bed and wrapped his arms around Tony, taking a deep breath before he kissed his lips softly.

“I have you,” he said quietly.

“So you do,” Tony replied just as quietly. “This fever's a bitch.”

“It will pass,” Loki assured him, rubbing his neck, “and when you next wake I can begin training your magic a bit.”

Tony smiled, he was looking forward to that.

~*~*~*~*~

Asgard was very different to Earth, and Loki was treated with grudging respect as he made his way around the city. Tony followed him, eager to have a look around. He was shown the observatory, the library, the stables, the theatre and the school where Loki once took his lessons. It was in this school that Loki taught Tony the basics of magic.

He learned to create shields properly, not just through instinct, learned how to use those shields to throw things across rooms and learned how to make objects levitate. He told Loki he was really going to have fun winding Clint up with that, and the shield would come in handy when he was outside his armour. No longer did he have to worry about being 'just a man' outside the suit.

He told Tony that magic was like a muscle, use it and it would increase and get stronger, do nothing and it would grow weak and be useless. Tony had every intention of practising, and so after a week they returned back to Earth.

It was an odd welcome. Pepper was even there, and they all got together in the briefing room to talk about what had happened to Tony.

“Okay, okay, so let me get this straight,” Clint said. “You two slept together, and now Tony has magic... So is magic like an STD for you then?”

Loki glared at Clint for that simile, but he sighed and nodded. “I suppose it can be... considered like that.”

“Huh...” Clint hummed, then grinned at Loki. “Care for a threes- Ow!”

Loki had sent an orange flying at Clint's head the same time as Tony dumped a glass of water over him. Both using magic of course.

“As a general rule, mortals are not supposed to gain magic,” Loki said, “it kills most of the time. I did some research on Alfhiem, and it was discovered by the elves that giving just a little bit of magic at a time prepares the body for a full 'infection'. Tony and I have been... spending a lot of time together.”

“You have,” Pepper agreed with a bit of a smile, and Tony felt his heart warm, that looked like his Pepper again. “You look happy Tony.”

“I am,” he said, “and I have magic so, you know, I'm not just a man in a can anymore.”

Pepper sighed softly, “You were never just a man in a can.”

“That's sweet Pep. You look good too, glad to see you're back to your old self.”

She nodded. “I am, it's nice,” she agreed, “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me, that's what friends are for.” Tony felt Loki's hand reach for his under the table and he tangled their fingers together. Tony smiled softly at that and looked back at Loki.

The meeting finished up as Loki told them that Nari seemed to have disappeared for now after realising the Infinity Gauntlet wasn't working. They'd bought some time, just a little bit of time, to get themselves ready, for Tony to perfect his magic and for them to decide exactly what the future would bring.

Tony looked at Loki where he sat beside him on the couch. “You want to go horseback riding this weekend?” he asked as he caressed the back of Loki's neck, and Loki smiled softly at that.

“That could be an acceptable way to spend a few hours.” He looked to Tony, “Thor and Pudding again?”

“Not _Pudding_...” he said with a pout. “That's the fattest horse I've ever seen.”

“He wasn't fat, he was barrel chested.”

“Whatever,” Tony said and smiled as Loki rolled his eyes.

For just a little while they could pretend that the world wasn't in danger, they could have this moment and many more like it before they had to face whatever the universe would bring.

And Tony had every confidence that whatever the odds, they'd get there in the end.

\- The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed my little fic. Please comment or kudo if you enjoyed it :D Comments and Kudos make me dance for joy!!


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